The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged workers to report banks that are not dispensing cash to its state councils as the country is experiencing a scarcity of naira notes. This move comes ahead of a planned nationwide strike by the NLC. The leaders of the NLC are scheduled to hold a meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) to make a final decision on the planned strike on Wednesday.
In a recent interview with Vanguard, the President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, stated that affiliate unions and state councils have been directed to monitor the situation and report back to the NLC. He added that the report the NLC receives will determine its next line of action. The NLC has given a seven-day ultimatum, which will expire on March 28, and if the strike commences, it will continue until cash becomes available to all Nigerians.
In response to the strike, Femi Falana SAN, the National Chairman of Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), has expressed his support for the action promised by the NLC. He hopes that the planned action will be implemented as soon as possible, as the lingering cash restriction policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is causing trauma, especially to poor families.
It should be noted that officials of the CBN met with the leaders of NLC on Thursday to brief them on the efforts of the apex bank to stabilize the currency situation across the country. The two-man delegation, made up of the CBN Deputy Governor in charge of operations and the Deputy Governor in charge of Economic Policy, had informed the NLC leaders that about N20 billion was pushed out last Thursday, with Lagos and Abuja getting N4 billion and N2 billion respectively in a bid to address the crunch. It was also agreed that banks should work on Saturday and Sunday as well as extend their working hours to stabilize the situation.
The NLC is planning to conduct a sit-at-home and picketing of the headquarters of the CBN and all its offices nationwide on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.
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