Labour, Other Unions To Shutdown over FG’s Plan to Sell National Assets

Labour, Other Unions To Shutdown over FG’s Plan to Sell National Assets

A heavy blanket of uncertainty looms over the polity as labour unions and human rights groups plan to embark on strike to oppose the plan by the federal and state governments to sell national assets.

The National Economic Council (NEC) led by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and 36 state governors, on Thursday, endorsed the plan by the Federal Government to sell some national assets in the face of the ongoing recession.

This has elicited a strong response from Labour groups, including the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, which has assured that its members would embark on a strike to resist the planned sale.

The Public Relations Officer, PENGASSAN, Mr. Emmanuel Ojugbana, on Friday, said that the union’s officials had started consulting over the matter.

“We are getting our full statement on this issue ready and by Monday, PENGASSAN shall make its position clear,” he told Punch.

Similarly, aviation unions stated that the plan to sell the country’s airports should be reviewed as a complete sale of the entire facilities and would spell doom for Nigeria.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, meanwhile, has said it would unfold its action plan against the move to sell the national assets on Monday after their planned deliberation with the Academic Staff Union of Universities Think Tank on Socio- Economic Issues.

This was disclosed by NLC’s General Secretary, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, who said: “We have issued a formal statement to reject the whole process, we issued that yesterday. We will address a press conference next week on this matter. We are going to address a press conference on this matter, in the afternoon on Monday.”

Reacting to the development, the President, Campaign for Democracy, Abdul Usman, warned of dire consequences if the Federal Government was allowed to have its way on this matter.

“If the National Economic Council is approving the sale of national assets and Nigerians are not ready to say no to this evil plan, the next generation will face the music of suffering this collateral damage,” he said.

The Executive Secretary, Anti-Corruption Network, Ebenezer Oyetakin, described the planned sale of the national assets as criminal, while the President of the Trade Union Congress, Mr. Bala Kaigama, said the congress was waiting to know which among the assets the government was planning to sell.