NLC Accuses FG Of Plans To Destabilize Labour Unions Ahead Of Fresh Fuel Price Hike

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused the Federal Government of plotting to destabilise labour unions in the country as a prelude to imposing a new fuel price increase on Nigerians.

The NLC in a statement released today by its acting general secretary, Comrade Owei Lakemfa asked President Goodluck Jonathan to call members of his cabinet funding the plot to order.

According to the union, ” These hawks in government who see the NLC as being too powerful and capable of checkmating undemocratic and unpatriotic moves by the political class, have come to the conclussion that the best way out is to engineer internal ‘disagreements’ in the NLC, and hiding under this guise, to register a new labour centre which they hope will support anti-people policies and cause distractions in the Labour Movement. These government agents have even fixed July 2012 as the registration date of their proposed new labour centre.”

Labour said the same agents are also responsible for the anti-labour bill currently before the National Assembly, adding that these agents of destabilisation fail to realise that the NLC is a major buffer against any unconstitutional or anti democratic bid for power in the country.

“They do not recognize the fact that when the chips are down, it is the NLC, and not the political parties that is capable of mobilizing and getting tens of millions of Nigerians on the streets to defend our democratic project. The NLC advises the trade unionists who have enlisted for this anti- people project, and those being enticed to join them, to retrace their steps as the Congress will not allow the ranks of the working people to be split. The NLC and its allies put the working people on the alert for a struggle to stop this move”, the statement added..

The NLC also called on President Jonathan to stop his officials who are engaged in renewed media campaigns to further increase the price of fuel under the guise of a nebulous deregulation policy, which it stated that the House of Representatives has exposed as being fraudulent.

It added that the continuous waste of public funds on media campaigns, the enticement of youths and so called Town Hall meetings to mislead Nigerians to support another round of fuel price hike was a criminal enterprise.

“With the serious security challenges in the country, the heating up of the polity by politicians and rising poverty in the land, the NLC calls on President Jonathan to call the agents of his government to order on the twin issues of trying to break up the NLC by fiat and increasing fuel prIce. These are unnecessary battles which the government cannot win”,labour warned.