The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, expressed the union’s stance on the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, warning that they would disown him if he implements the policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank if elected Nigeria’s President.
Ajaero made these remarks during an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday. He criticized the NLC’s position on the removal of petrol subsidy and electricity subsidy as ‘fixated.’
He emphasized that the labour union would strongly oppose any Labour Party president who adopts the policies of the IMF.
Ajaero stated, “He (Obi) is the presidential candidate of the Labour Party but does he own the NLC or the Labour Party? Why can’t you separate them? Whosoever is the presidential candidate or official of the Labour Party must buy into our projects. If he says he is going to undertake those policies, let him be elected and try such policies.
“Whether a presidential candidate of a party that Labour forms would dictate for Labour? The answer is known to everybody. The policies of Labour, the ideologies of Labour are clear and we are going to pursue it. If anybody is coming with another ideology, he is going to have it tough with us because that is not what we stand for. It (our approach) would have been the worst for anybody flying the flag of the Labour Party to come and implement these policies, to come and adopt the policies of the IMF and the World Bank. It would have been worse for the person. In fact, we would disown the person; he would be on his own. We have to make this distinction clear.”
Regarding the recent electricity tariff hike and inflation, Ajaero demanded the immediate reversal of the increase by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and distribution companies in the country.
He explained, “Unknown to people, this issue of tariff increase is determined by inflation and the value of the currency. NERC takes these two major variables to determine tariff increase. Unknown to the same NERC, each time you increase tariff, it leads to another inflation which within few months, they would see demand for another tariff increase. And this is happening on and on and there is no control over it.”
On April 3, 2024, NERC raised electricity tariff for customers enjoying 20 hours of power supply daily, leading to customers paying N225 kilowatt per hour from the previous N66, a move that received widespread criticism from Nigerians.
In response, the NLC and the Trade Union Congress staged protests at NERC offices and distribution companies on Monday to push for their demands.
However, Ajaero criticized the “politics of reduction” embarked upon by NERC, stating that reduction after tariff increase won’t stand. He insisted that NERC and discos must first revert the tariff to the old rates and then engage in negotiations with labour unions and other stakeholders to find a mutually agreeable way forward.
