VAM News Update
A delegation of organized labour walked out of a scheduled meeting with the Presidential Steering Committee on subsidy palliatives at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday, July 28.
The two parties who met on Wednesday, July 26, had agreed to reconvene on Friday to be briefed by the three subcommittees set up to look into various demands.
Daily Trust reported that the meeting could not proceed because according to some members of the Steering Committee, there was no quorum.
It was gathered that the three subcommittees, the Mass Transit, the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Cash transfer subcommittees, were supposed to be present to brief the Steering Committee on the measures put in place to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal on the workers.
This pushed the labour union leaders into accusing the federal government of using the meetings as a pretext to deceive Nigerians. A member of the Steering Committee from labour told the publication;
“They are not prepared for the meeting. That’s the truth. The government representatives had insisted that the meeting should proceed even though no quorum was formed.
“They are using cover to deceive Nigerians. There are supposed to be three subcommittees, mass transit subcommittee, the CNG, and the cash transfer, to brief us, the steering committee but government was not prepared for the meeting.
“In their introductory remarks they made excuses and they wanted the meeting to continue, the meeting did not form a quorum. We are a people that operate on the basis of process. So, if there’s no quorum in a meeting what do you do? You will adjourn for lack of quorum.
“There was nobody to meet with. The Chief of Staff was not there, they are taking us children.”
The representatives of the organised labour from the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had also claimed that they were delayed for the meeting at the State House entrance gate otherwise known as Mopol gate over clearance.
Sources told the publication that the names of the labour delegation were not sent to the gate for clearance which led to their delay for the meeting. One of the leaders of the labour delegation had told journalists, “We were detained at the gate.”
The drama which ensued today pushed the labour leaders into accusing the federal government of deceit.