From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have set up a joint committee to review the 50 percent tariff hike for telecommunication companies by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
This was part of resolutions reached on Monday, at a meeting between the Federal Government and the NLC in Abuja.
Present at the meeting were Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation; Minister Communication and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijanni; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Aminu Maida; Minister of Labour and Employment, Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, among others.
The meeting, facilitated by Senator George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), was to look into the study carried out by the NCC which led to the 50 percent increment on telecommunications tariffs.
Giving a summary of the resolutions if the meeting, Idris said, “The Nigerian Labour Congress and the delegation of the federal government have set up a committee of five each. We are going to meet here continuously for the next two weeks. And at the end of the second week, we will now come up with a recommendation that we will give to government and the organised Labour for final consideration.”
The NLC, on Wednesday, threatened to embark on a nationwide protest from Tuesday, February 4, against the hike in telcos tariff. However, NLC president, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said it will wait for the outcome of the Committee to determine its next line of action
However, after extensive deliberation, the two bodies agreed to set up a 10-man Committee comprising five members from the Federal Government and five from the NLC, to review the study and submit its report within two weeks.
