For the second time in a week, the eagerly awaited meeting between organized labour and the federal government to discuss the progress in implementing the 15-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been postponed until next week.
The MoU was formally agreed upon by both parties on October 2, 2023, as a last-ditch effort and a prerequisite for organized labor, represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), to halt their planned nationwide strike in response to the hardships faced by Nigerians after the removal of the fuel subsidy in May of the same year.
One key aspect of this agreement was to allow the federal government to implement the MoU within 30 days, a deadline that has now expired.
Meanwhile, the government has initiated some aspects of the agreement, such as establishing seven Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) centers for gas-fueled vehicles and allocating 210 billion naira in the 2023 supplementary budget for wage awards of N35,000 each to approximately 1.5 million federal government employees.
According to NLC national president, Comrade Joe Ajaero, who briefed journalists on Sunday, the rescheduled meeting was originally planned for Monday but was pushed to yesterday and eventually postponed.
READ THIS: Yahaya Bello Offered Me N70M to Quit – Akpoti
This meeting was intended to assess the progress made in implementing the MoU.
However, last week, the federal government faced criticism when the labor union accused the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, of obstructing the ratified agreement by endorsing and legitimizing the leadership of Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, a move they viewed as undermining the ratified agreement and breaching item 6 of the MoU.
This situation has escalated to the point where the NLC has declared its intention to boycott any meeting with the federal government that includes the presence of the minister.