Festus Keaymo, the Chief Spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC PCC), has attacked the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) for resisting the elimination of gasoline subsidies.
The NLC previously warned that those working for the elimination of fuel subsidies in Nigeria are attempting to set the country on fire, insisting that organized labor will not allow the removal of subsidies.
In an interview with Newsmen on Tuesday, NLC General Secretary Emmanuel Ugboaja stated that the government should not force the Nigerian masses and workers to pay higher petrol prices in the name of subsidy removal.
Peter Obi, The Labour Party Has Never Opposed The Elimination Of Subsidies
But, in a lengthy message on his verified Twitter account on Tuesday, Keyamo advised the NLC against any attempt to agitate the populace against the decision, stressing that the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, had also approved the elimination of the subsidy during his campaign.
Keyamo pointed out that organized labor had no moral right to ask the Federal Government to keep fuel subsidies when it openly supported a presidential candidate who advocated for their elimination.
He claimed that the NLC failed to distance itself from Obi’s position throughout the campaign, and he warned about the moral hazard of supporting a candidate who supported subsidy elimination when the union opposed the choice.
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment said he can speak for the NLC’s patriotism, but they must persuade the people that their current stance is not political because the union’s candidate lost the election.
NLC Calls Tinubu’s Campaign Council Bluff Over Peter Obi’s Stance on Fuel Subsidy
He wrote: “With the greatest humility, this is a massive contradiction, my friends and comrades in NLC. You officially adopted Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate, as your candidate at the elections and he also vowed to remove subsidy on pms. YOU DID NOT PUBLICLY DISASSOCIATE YOURSELF THEN FROM HIS POSITION.
“I called out NLC then through a statement I issued and warned about the moral burden of adopting such a candidate when you are opposed to subsidy removal. Nobody listened to me; I knew a day like this will come. Now, you have the moral burden of reconciling your positions on this issue; though, I can vouch for your patriotism, you have to convince the nation that your position now is not political since your candidate lost at the election.
“I also urge you to re-think your position because subsidy presently gulps about N300 billion on a monthly basis and this economy cannot simply sustain this. What I think we should be talking about is a significant increase in the minimum wage (and all consequential adjustments) and an immediate identification of massive infrastructural developments in all regions of this country to where the money saved will be channeled immediately.
Festus Keyamo Gives Latest Update On Plans To Remove Fuel Subsidy
“This will create more jobs to the delight of NLC. We also need to convince the people that the money saved will not go into unnecessary recurrent expenditure. The earlier these discussions start, the better; but subsidy has to go.”
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