NLC president absent as FG, labour unions resume meeting in Aso Rock

The presidential steering committee on palliatives, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and government representatives, resumed its meeting on Tuesday.

The meeting was adjourned on Monday for members to listen to President Bola Tinubu’s nationwide broadcast.

Joe Ajaero, national president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), is not at the meeting.

The committee was set up to deliberate on the proposed palliatives for workers to cushion the effect of the removal of petrol subsidy.

The NLC delegation is led by Emma Ugbaja, the general secretary,  while the TUC is led by its president, Festus Osifo.

Representatives of the government include Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to the president; Kachollom Daju, permanent secretary, ministry of labour and employment; Mele Kyari, the group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, (NNPCL); Olu Verheijen, the special adviser to the president on energy, among others.

The meeting, which is taking place at the conference hall of the chief of staff to the president, is expected to receive briefings from the sub-committees of mass transit , CNG, and conditional cash transfer.

It is also expected to consider the planned protest by the NLC scheduled to hold on Wednesday.

The meeting is still ongoing as of the time of filing this report.