REMOVAL OF FUEL SUBSIDY: NLC DECLARES WARNING STRIKE
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has declared a two-day warning strike which will begin on Tuesday, September 5, 2023.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero, disclosed this on Friday during a press conference at the Labour House in Abuja,
According to Ajaero, the two-day warning strike is in protest against the Federal Government for failing to address the challenges caused by the removal of fuel subsidy.
The NLC is accusing the Federal Government of going back on the negotiations and failing to implement some of the resolutions from previous meetings that were held.
On August 2, the NLC held a protest on what it described as the anti-people policies of the current administration.
The NLC, Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their affiliate unions demonstrated in Abuja and several states, including Lagos, Abia, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Rivers.
The protest also took place in Zamfara, Katsina, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kwara, Ogun, Imo, Ondo, and Edo.
The protest was due to a seven-day ultimatum issued to the Federal Government demanding the immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of the federal government.
The policies include the recent hike in PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) price, increase in public school fees, the release of the eight months withheld salary of university lecturers and workers”.
Also, the union demanded an upward review of the minimum wage from N30,000 to N200,000, saying that since the President’s “subsidy is gone” inauguration speech of May 29, 2023, the peace of mind of Nigerians has gone.
President Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy after his swearing in on May 29 in Abuja.
August 31, 2023
Press Statement
25th Anniversary: Don’t Succumb to Despondency – PDP Urges Nigerians
… Says APC is a Threat to Nigeria’s Democracy, Corporate Existence
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) celebrates its 25th anniversary today with a call on Nigerians not to succumb to hopelessness under the prevailing despairing situation in the country but remain optimistic in the hope that their democratic mandate will ultimately triumph in the end.
The PDP in essence, outlook and operation remains the only broad-based, all-embracing Pan-Nigerian political Party birthed on the principles of national unity, freedom, social justice, development and overall wellbeing of citizens; which over the years stands steadfast to its democratic ideology of good governance and citizens’ participation in political leadership.
Today, the PDP celebrates the resilience of Nigerians in the democratic process and particularly the founding leaders and teeming members of our Party for their sacrificial roles in returning, nurturing and sustaining democracy in our country.
The belief that power resides with the people is at the core of PDP’s sustained focus on guaranteeing the Rule of Law, adherence to the principle of Separation of Powers, personal freedom of citizens, a free Press, credible electoral process, liberalization of the economy, vast infrastructural development, massive employment and business opportunities among other initiatives that made the PDP years in government the *Nigerian Golden Years.*
It is on record that the PDP administration, through deft management of the economy, achieved $18bn debt relief from the Paris and London Clubs, consolidated the banking sector, revolutionized the telecommunication sector, revamped the oil and gas, manufacturing, aviation, agriculture, real estate and other critical sectors to turn the inherited moribund economy into one of the fastest growing in the world and handed over a $550 billion economy (largest in Africa and 26th globally) in 2015 to the APC.
Under the PDP’s result-oriented leadership, our Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) grew to over $8b; our Foreign Exchange Reserves grew from $2bn in 1999 to over $40bn in 2014. Today, under the incompetent and corrupt APC administration our FDI plummeted to *$-0.19bn in 2022.* The APC government had remained silent to reports by JP Morgan that Nigeria’s Foreign Exchange Reserves had fallen to *$3.7bn* as at the end of December 2022.
The PDP administration guaranteed a stable economy that boosted domestic and international investors’ confidence in all sectors, grew the Nigeria Stock Exchange into one of the most profitable in the world, achieved food security through massive investment in agriculture with increased purchasing power of citizens which ranked Nigeria as a major development hub with Fitch BB rating under the PDP administration.
Sadly, all the gains achieved by the PDP have been rolled back by the APC, which in a space of eight years, wrecked our economy and turned our nation into the poverty capital of the world with frightening 35% unemployment rate, where hunger, starvation, strange diseases and sudden deaths now ravage our citizens.
Under the vicious, corrupt and incompetent APC’s watch, major multinational companies are exiting Nigeria; the Naira has fallen from N197 to US$1 under the PDP to abysmal over N900 to US$1; petrol which sold at N87 per liter by 2015 now sells for over N600 per liter. This is in addition to multiple harsh tariffs, taxes and levies imposed on citizens by the APC administration.
Life in Nigeria under the APC has become very unbearable such that Nigerians are now resorting to suicide and slavery mission abroad as options.
The fraudulent APC administration has succeeded in mortgaging the future of our nation with reckless accumulation of N85 trillion foreign debt with no corresponding development project to show for it.
Typically, the APC has no answer to allegations that bulk of the borrowed funds were looted by APC leaders. It has also not provided answers to the alleged looting of over *N20 trillion*, including fuel subsidy funds by its leaders.
While the PDP established the EFCC, ICPC and fought corruption, the APC adopted corruption as a state policy where government Agencies have become Automated Teller Machines (ATM) of APC leaders and their cronies.
This corroborates Transparency International (TI)’s rating of Nigeria as the most corrupt West African Nation and ranking 150 out of 180 in the World Corruption Perception Index under the APC.
On security, it is evident that the PDP succeeded in containing terrorism to the fringes by 2015 only for the APC to import terrorist elements and bandits into the country, as confessed by one of its leaders, to assist the APC to violently rig the 2019 general elections.
Nigerians can recall how APC leaders openly romanced and even paid money to the terrorists ravaging our country. Our nation now ranks as one of the highest in World Terrorism Index with more than *20,000* citizens reportedly killed under the APC watch since 2015.
The APC came to power by the instrument of lies and propaganda and seeks to sustain its hold with violence, intimidation, manipulations and election rigging.
Nevertheless, the PDP urges Nigerians not to lose confidence in the Nation but remain hopeful as our Party continues to lead the charge for a country where the Will of the people prevails.
The PDP appreciates the support, solidarity and love by Nigerians over the years and assures of its continued commitment to the principles of democracy and positive engagement of citizens in the cause of Nation building.
Signed:
Hon. Debo Ologunagba
National Publicity Secretary
PRESS RELEASE
LAGOS WILL TOP OTHER AFRICAN CITIES IN LIVABILITY, INNOVATION, SAYS SANWO-OLU’S AIDE
- Akosile – Lagos is the gateway to the aspiration of over 200 million Nigerians
As Lagos emerges as the fifth best African city with high desirability by people to live, work, and invest, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has pledged to intensify efforts for Lagos to top other countries in years ahead.
According to a recent report by Brand Finance City Index 2023, Cape Town, Cairo, Johannesburg, Casablanca, Lagos and Nairobi are the only six African countries that appear on the 100 world’s best cities as numbers 60, 67, 72, 76, 90, and 94 respectively.
Reacting to the announcement on Thursday during an interview programme on TVC News, Mr. Gboyega Akosile, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Sanwo-Olu, relayed his principal’s excitement stressing that the government of the state is doing something right that enabled it to find itself in the pool of great cities across the globe.
Akosile said he was not surprised by the ranking, saying that Governor Sanwo-Olu and his predecessors had worked assiduously well to put Lagos in a favourable place on the global rankings.
Governor Sanwo-Olu’s spokesman stressed that his principal has delivered on his electoral promises to Lagosians, thereby making the state habitable to residents and attractive to others.
He said: “Lagos is the gateway to the aspiration of over 200 million Nigerians. It is the gateway of Nigeria to the world, anyone who wants to come to the country for business thinks of Lagos first. In the last four years, the current administration has more than doubled the budgetary size from N888 billion in 2019 to about N1.7trilion in 2023 and it has been going on that way and what that means is that we are opening up the economy of the state with a lot of infrastructural renewal and developments.”
Akosile further reiterated the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration’s desire to place Lagos in the first position in years to come.
He revealed some of the plans of the administration to enhance the city saying, “Rome was not built in a day, it is a gradual process. By Monday, next week, we are going to be flagging off the commercial operations of the Blue Line rail from Marina to Mile 2. By the time it starts working, it will add up to the perception index of Lagos as a state where you can come and have peace of mind transportation-wise.
“Before the end of the year, we are going to flag off another one, that is one of the biggest – the Red Line. It is going to be moving a whole lot of people from the Eastern part of Lagos to the Western part of Lagos. By the time we launch the two, our perception will increase because more people will be desirous of living and working in Lagos because they know transportation won’t be a problem.”
Recalling the Governor’s trip to meet with Afrexim at Cairo, the capital of Egypt, Akosile said Sanwo-Olu is taking up diverse projects in different sectors to fulfill all the promises he made to Lagosians.
“When Governor Sanwo-Olu came on board, he promised to ensure Lagos becomes a smart city and what he means by that is to make everyone do their business with innovation and technology. What does the government do? What the government does is to provide you with the infrastructure to be able to do that.
“Lagos has done that over time if you look around you. There are CCTV cameras all over the state that we have been installing. And what this means is that people who want to work, invest, and do business in Lagos have peace of mind that their investments are safe,” he said.
Apart from the physical infrastructure, he also noted that Governor Sanwo-Olu is building a youth-friendly state, and “that is why the Governor has been giving young minds grants to ensure they create a lot of software to be used to solve challenges in Lagos State”.
Akosile also dismissed fears that Lagos may become too expensive to live in due to the recent rankings, saying, “The implication for the citizens is positive because they have a state where they can come to live and enjoy their lives and be happy.”
SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
31 AUGUST 2023
