The federal government of Nigeria has said that for the next six months, it will waive the value-added tax (VAT) on diesel. This is considered as part of the measures put in place to ease the effects of the fuel subsidy. The waiver is regarded as part of the resolution attained by the federal government of Nigeria, and the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) after the four-hour meeting, which was held at the State House.
While giving a speech at the end of the four-hour meeting with the leaders of the TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at the State House in Abuja, Nigeria, Gbajabiamila stated that the labour leaders and the government have attained some resolution. Also, a statement issued after the meeting by the minister of information and national orientation, Mohammed Idris, it was shown that the federal government of Nigeria is committed to speeding up the provision of compressed natural gas (CNG) buses.
Government would begin payment of N75,000 to 15M households.
CNG buses will reduce the difficulties of public transportation related with the removal of PMS subsidy. He also said that the government will ensure to provide funds for micro and small-scale enterprises as he affirmed that the value-added tax (VAT) on diesel will likewise be waived for the next six months. The government would also begin payment of N75,000 to 15 million households for a period of three months — from October to December 2023 — at N25,000 per month.
According to the statement, there will be a constitution of a sub-committee that will be responsible for sorting out the details of implementing all items for consideration concerning interventions of the government to ease the impacts of the PMS subsidy removal. There will be a consideration of the offers of the federal government by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the TUC, with a likelihood that the planned strike will be suspended for the time being.
Promises made by the government will be taken to NLC & TUC organs.
Upon consideration of the offers and possible suspension of the planned strike, there will be room for further consultations on how to implement the aforementioned resolutions. The President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, while speaking with journalists, asserted that the labour union would report all the promises by the government to its organs for scrutiny and consideration. Emphasizing that he has less words to say, the NLC president said that they have had meetings and almost all the matters have been scrutinized.
Ajaero asserted that they have all the promissory notes from the federal government and will consider translating them into reality and determine how practical they can be. He stressed that the promises made by the Nigerian government will be taken to the NLC and TUC organs. This is because it is impossible for the leaders to single-handedly review and call off action. Therefore, he expressed optimism that the organs will go through them and give a new mandate on what to do next.
TUC and NLC will look into the offers and provide ideas.
Additionally, while commenting on the meeting that was held between the government, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the TUC, the acting president of the TUC, Tommy Etim Okon, stated that there would be conferment with the respective organs to determine the next step to be taken. He also stated that the TUC have had several conversations regarding the issue that was raised. However, he expressed hope that the organs would look into the offer of the government and offer ideas to aid improvement.
Related Link
NLC: Website https://www.nlcng.org/
