December 12, 2015 – The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has challenged the Federal Government to find a permanent solution to persistent fuel scarcity which is threatening the social economic wellbeing of Nigerians.
The TUC however commended the Federal Government for not removing fuel subsidy, in consideration for the common man but tasked government to revamp the nations moribund refineries and build new ones to put the problem of fuel scarcity in abeyance.
“However, the NEC-in-Session enjoins the Federal Government to find a permanent solution to fuel crisis, especially through revamping the existing oil refineries, building new ones, and stepping up the fight against crude oil theft, oil pipeline vandalism and corruption in the oil and gas sector.
“We believe that with all these effectively done, the dependence on importation of refined oil products will drastically reduce, which in turn will naturally fizzle out the need to pay any form of subsidy for them. It will also automatically boost employment in line with the government’s drive to create more jobs”, the TUC said.
On minimum wage, the TUC condemned the utterance of some state governors that they are no longer able to pay the minimum wage of N18,000 as a result of general fall in the price of crude oil and its negative impacts on sharing of revenue from Federation Accounts Allocation Committee(FAAC).
“Despite the antics of the governors, labour will go ahead to submit a proposal for review”, it said of the wage.
