The Nigeria Labour Congress president Joe Ajaero says organised labour has been summoned for contempt of court following a nationwide protest on Wednesday.
The NLC president stated that the organised labour received a summons purporting to charge it with contempt of court over the protest and directed all workers to resume at the courts wherever they may be across the nation on the days of the court sittings to hear the contempt proceedings against the leaders of trade unions.
“The airports, the seaports, the hospitals, schools; all public and private sector workers will all appear in court across the nation in response to the contempt charges,” stated Mr Ajaero.
He commended the leadership of the National Assembly for their timely intervention and pledged to resolve the issues raised by Nigerians. The NLC leader also lauded them for their deep understanding of the need for the government to provide quick wins as succour with short timelines to ameliorate the adverse effects of the hike in petrol price on the citizens.
He disclosed this in a statement jointly signed with Festus Osifo, the president of the Trade Union Congress, on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the unions said they had resumed dialogue with President Bola Tinubu’s regime to allow full implementation of its pledge and commitment to the petrol subsidy removal.
Mr Ajaero said it was pertinent to inform Nigerians that the extent of the protest’s success was underlined by Mr Tinubu’s request to meet with the leadership of organised labour at a closed-door session.
He said the engagement with the president was fruitful as immense mileage was obtained regarding the issues that bogged down the work of the Presidential Committee on Subsidy Removal and necessitated the protest.
According to him, the president said he was committed to an immediate restructuring of the framework for engagement in line with the input of the labour leaders.
“He let out a certainty that the Port Harcourt refineries will commence production by December this year. He pledged to ensure that Agreement is reached on the Wage Award for Nigerian workers immediately,” Mr Ajaero explained.
The NLC chief added, “He promised to unveil a workable roadmap to the CNG alternative next week. On the strength of the president’s pledge and commitment, we have decided for return to a new and reinvigorated dialogue process to allow for full implementation.”
(NAN)
