- Safiu Kehinde
President Bola Tinubu has on Tuesday night held a closed-door meeting with the leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over the union’s planned nationwide protest.
Tinubu met with leaders of the NLC at the State House, Abuja, in what was considered a last-minute effort to halt the proposed nationwide protest over insecurity.
NPO Reported that the NLC had declared a nationwide protest for December 17, citing what it described as the country’s “degenerating security situation.”
The President of the NLC, Mr Joe Ajaero, led the labour leaders to the closed-door meeting.
Addressing newsmen after the meeting, Ajaero declined to confirm whether the protest would proceed as scheduled.
“If I’m insisting (on proceeding with the strike), I’m not insisting. I will communicate to you,” he said.
He stressed that decisions of the NLC are taken collectively, not unilaterally.
“It is not an organisation that one person rules. Let’s go back now. You have a meeting of labour and the governors’ forum. We’ll go back to the drawing board, digest all that Mr President said to us, and move forward from there,” Ajaero said.
He said the NLC leadership would reconvene early on Wednesday to review the outcome of the engagement.
“We came for consultation with the President, and we are finished. So, we have to go back to our meeting and then continue tomorrow,” he added.
“By tomorrow, we will get the outcome,” Ajaero said.
According to reports, the NLC is expected to announce early on Wednesday whether the planned protest will go ahead or be suspended.
The meeting was also attended by the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors’ Forum and Governor of Imo, Sen. Hope Uzodimma; Governor of Edo, Monday Okpebholo; Governor of Kebbi, Nasir Idris; and the Minister of State for Labour, Mrs Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.