On Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu said the dilapidated Port Harcourt refinery will start operations by December 2023 to cushion the ongoing economic challenges.
According to Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, the President made the promise during his meeting with them on Wednesday night in Abuja.
The labour also acknowledged that the president made a series of promises, which led to their agreement to return to the negotiations table.
In their joint statement, the national presidents of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, and Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo, also expressed their gratitude to Nigerians for supporting the nationwide protest.
“The success of the protest is evident through the request of the President of the federal republic of Nigeria to meet with the leadership of the NLC and TUC in a closed-door session.
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The engagement proved fruitful, and significant progress was made on the issues that hindered the work of the Presidential Committee on Subsidy removal and necessitated the protest. The President committed to an immediate restructuring of the framework for engagement in line with the input of the Labor leaders.
He also assured us that the Port Harcourt Refinery will commence production by December this year. Furthermore, he pledged to ensure that an Agreement is reached on the Wage Award for Nigerian workers without delay.
In addition, he promised to unveil a workable roadmap to the CNG alternative next week. Based on the President’s commitments, we have decided to return to a new and reinvigorated dialogue process to facilitate full implementation.
Once again, we extend our gratitude to Nigerians, and we eagerly await the Government to fulfill its part of the understanding as agreed with His Excellency, the President.”