A former Governor of Bauchi state and Chairman, Board of Trustees BoT of the All Progressives Congress APC Professionals Forum, Mallam Isa Yuguda has assured the organized labour that President Bola Tinubu will not renege on his promise to increase the national minimum wage and also fix the country’s moribund refineries.
At a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja, Yuguda who was flanked by the immediate-past deputy governor of Anambra state, Dr Nkem Okeke and National Coordinator of the Forum, Akeem Akintayo said Tinubu did no wrong in reminding Nigerians that ‘fuel subsidy was gone’ in his May 29 inaugural speech.
The former Aviation minister said, he, like many Nigerians, was only rankled by “the knee jerk reaction of oil marketers who proceeded to hoard fuel and cause hardship for Nigerians across the country”.
He said while the forum saw nothing wrong with President Tinubu’s reminder on fuel subsidy, it was taken aback by the subsequent strike threats by the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC and the Trade Union Congress TUC.
The forum however commended the two labour unions for heeding the voice of reason by first returning to the negotiation table after an initial reluctance, and later by agreeing to suspend the planned nationwide strike.
Yuguda said; “From all indications, promises were made by the government side led by Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila including what is likely to pave way for a new national minimum wage, palliatives and a framework for the completion of the ongoing overhaul of the nation’s refineries. Our message to Organized Labour is for them to trust the man Bola Ahmed Tinubu and to trust the process.
“President Tinubu is a promise keeper. He will keep his vow to review workers’ salaries which he first hinted at even before his team went into talks with Labour over fuel subsidy removal.
“We have an administration in place led by a pro-people President that will keep to the terms of his Renewed Hope agenda so NLC and TUC as well as the good people of Nigeria have no reason to doubt that the agreements will be kept.
“We also saw how, without much ado, the President resolved a health workers’ strike which began few days to his inauguration on May 25, by holding direct talks with the leadership of the Joint Health Sectors Union (JOHESU) on the same day talks were held to resolve issues surrounding fuel subsidy.
“We dare say that all these should provide clear insight into the hands-on approach that President Tinubu is bringing into governance at the centre.
“We urge Nigerians from all walks of life to exercise patience and support the President even in the face of the initial discomfort that the removal of fuel subsidy will bring before it tapers off in the not-too-distant future’.
