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The meeting between the Presidential Steering Committee and organised labour scheduled to hold on Friday, July 28, 2023, on subsidy palliatives did not go as planned as the union leaders walked out of the meeting.
The committee in its last meeting had on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, agreed to meet with the union leaders again to receive briefings rom three subcommittees.
But shortly after Joe Ajaero, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), led his delegation to the venue of the meeting, the union leaders walked out.
According to The Nation, the NLC delegation who arrived at the Chief of Staff’s Conference Room around 5pm, left a few minutes into the meeting, citing the absence of those to brief.
The labour union accused the Federal Government of using the meetings as a pretext to deceive Nigerians.
According to multiple reports, the Mass Transit, the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Cash transfer subcommittees, were supposed to be present to brief the Steering Committee on the measures put in place to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal on the workers.
But the labour team alleged that the government was not prepared for the meeting, adding that government officials who are members of the subcommittees failed to attend the meeting.
A labour source who spoke to The Nation said, “They are not prepared for the meeting. That’s the truth. They are using cover to deceive Nigerians. There are supposed to be three subcommittees, mass transit subcommittee, the CNG, and the cash transfer, to brief us, the steering committee but government was not prepared for the meeting.
“In their introductory remarks they made excuses and they wanted the meeting to continue, the meeting did not form a 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.
The source said, “there was nobody to meet with, adding that “the Chief of Staff was not there, they are taking us like small children.”
However, the Chief of Staff was reported to have waited for the labour delegation with other members of the team at his Conference Hall.
He reportedly left the venue to attend to other official matters within the Villa while other government delegation waited for the organised labour to arrive.