Breaaking: Cash difficulty: NLC, TUC extend strike ultimatum by two weeks

Following consultations with their respective affiliate unions regarding the cash crunch policy, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have decided to extend their strike ultimatum that they had previously issued to the federal government for two additional weeks.

On Tuesday, following a discussion with the members of the National Executive Council, the decision was shared with the public.

You may recall that the NLC had issued an ultimatum threatening to go on strike beginning from Wednesday, nationwide. As part of this threat, the NLC had planned to picket the various branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

It is, however, unclear whether a meeting between the leadership of the NLC and CBN that was called for by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, was the impetus behind the decision to extend the ultimatum for an additional two weeks.

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The President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, had admitted that the cash crunch situation had significantly improved, but that they needed to monitor the compliance of cash disbursement through the commercial banks for two more weeks. This is because they need to ensure that the cash is being distributed properly.

Festus Osifo, the president of the TUC, echoed Ajaero’s sentiments when he said that there was a need to benchmark the government. He was speaking not only about the shortage of cash, but also about the difficulties associated with fuel products and never-ending queues, as well as the price of electricity.

According to Osifo, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made a mistake when they allowed the confidence of the people in their monetary policy to be eroded; as a result, the CBN needs to restore the confidence of the people within the grace period of two weeks.