The federal government and the organised labour Wednesday held a close-door meeting at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) over the recent hike in the pump price of fuel.
The meeting, which lasted for hours, was said to have been convened to address the implications of the rising cost of fuel occasioned by market fundamentals.
The meeting was attended by top government officials and leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria.
Government officials at the meeting include the National Security Adviser (NSA) Mr Nuhu Ribadu, Minister of Information and National Orientation Mr Mohammed Idris, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Mr Wale Edun, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Mrs Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo, and the representatives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The organised labour was represented at the meeting by the President of NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero; Deputy President of NLC, Kabiru Ado Sani; General-Secretary of NLC, Comrade Emma Ugboaja; Deputy Women leader of NLC, Comrade Deborah Yusuf; Deputy President of TUC, Dr Tommy Etim Okon; and the Secretary-General of TUC, Comrade Nuhu Toro.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Mohammed Idris said the meeting discussed general issues.
“These are just general discussions, government is always desirous of engaging with Labour, this is one of such engagements. We’ll continue to interact with them. We don’t wait until there is tension about anything before we engage Labour.
“This is a renewed commitment on behalf of government to continue to engage Labour on a number of issues. These engagements have been very fruitful and we will continue to engage with them,” he said.
Asked about the main subject the meeting, the minister said: “A lot of things were discussed, but like I said, this is work in progress, this is something that isn’t a one-off thing, but we have not reached anything that we think that we can tell Nigerians now, but what is more important is that there’s going to be continuous engagement between us and Labour for the good of the country.
“This is our continuous engagement with Labour for the good of the country. You know that Labour is an important component of this country, all of them are our brothers and sisters. Government is there for everyone, including Labour, so we will continue to engage Labour for the goo of the country.”
Also speaking, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, said most of the measures that have been taken by the federal government were beginning to yield greater levels of investment.
He said effort to mobilize more investment would cement the rise in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).