A meeting between the Nigerian Government and Organised Labour that was set to hold on Friday failed, due to lack of quorum” according to the union.
Recall, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu Olu Verheijen said that FG is committed towards ongoing talks with organized labour to avert a strike.
No meeting
In a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), they revealed a scheduled meeting between the Federal Government and the labour unions did not hold as expected on Friday
They said this comes after Mr Festus Osifo, Trade Union Congress (TUC) President, had said that the talks would continue on Friday, which is part of the process of arriving at sustainable decisions on the palliatives to be provided to Nigerians due to the removal of subsidy on petrol by the federal government.
No quorum
The report noted that an official of one of the unions at Friday’s scheduled meeting, who pleaded anonymity, told State House Correspondents that the meeting could not hold because of a lack of quorum.
- ‘’The meeting did not form a quorum. If there is no quorum, we are a people that operate on the basis of process. So, if there’s no quorum in a meeting what do you do? You will adjourn for lack of quorum,’’ he said.
The FG had pledged to continue to work out measures to ameliorate the effect of the fuel subsidy removal on Nigerians, including the introduction of the use of Compressed Natural Gas, mass transportation and cleaner energy alternatives.
Backstory
Recall Nairametrics reported that Ms Olu Verheijen, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Energy, disclosed at the end of the Wednesday meeting with the unions in Abuja that the FG is working quickly to roll out palliatives following the removal of fuel subsidies, which has negatively impacted millions of Nigerians.
Ms. Verheijen said the committee meeting comprised all stakeholders representing the interests of Nigerians, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). According to her, the government is working round the clock to address the issues around the palliative rollout scheme which is multidimensional.
- “The steering committee involves labour and some parts of government, it’s a wide group of people, a wide group of stakeholders representing the interests of Nigerians and we have agreed to continue to make progress.
- “It was a very productive meeting, the focus was on how we fast-track a lot of the interventions that will bring relief, particularly around compressed natural gas (CNG), mass transportation, cleaner energy, transportation, and reducing the impact of the cost of transportation.
- “We have made good progress and we are going to start rolling out these opportunities and these relief measures as quickly as possible.
- “We are trying to address the issues that will prevent a strike. So that is essentially why I feel we made very good progress today and will continue to do so.