The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) leadership chose not to attend a scheduled meeting with government officials regarding the removal of subsidy and the subsequent over 200 percent increase in the price of petrol, insisting that the fuel price must be reverted to its previous level.

Following President Bola Tinubu’s announcement of subsidy removal in his inauguration speech on May 29, fuel scarcity gripped the nation as marketers hoarded the product and raised its price.

A meeting held last Wednesday between government officials and labor leaders ended without resolution due to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited’s release of a petrol pump price template that set the price between N488 and N557 per liter.

The meeting was set to continue yesterday, but an NLC leader informed Vanguard that “government officials have been contacting us, and we have firmly informed them that we will no longer hold any meeting until the petrol pump price is reverted to the pre-May 29 level. In other words, the petrol pump price must return to its previous state to create room for negotiation and a way forward.”

On the other hand, leaders of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) met with government officials yesterday, but the meeting concluded without a resolution. Both parties agreed to continue discussions on the issue tomorrow and also called for a pay increase to mitigate the impact of the subsidy removal.