THE Nigerian government said on Monday that it is in making “serious and intense efforts” towards averting a situation whereby the ongoing disputes involving workers in certain sectors of the economy may spiral into a full-blown industrial action.
This was revealed in a press statement signed by President Goodluck Jonathan’s senior special assistant on public affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, who said that government has adopted a “multifaceted” approach to handle the situation.
Those involved in the current negotiations include NUPENG , oil marketers, staff of the Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria (PHCN) and the Nigeria Labor Congress.
“The ministers of labor, power and other high level officers of government have met for several hours with the aggrieved PHCN workers and virtually all their demands have been agreed upon except for the issue severance benefits of workers” the statement read.
The government also said that it looks forward to a favorable resolution of the issue of severance benefits due workers, even though it had so far based its decisions on the 2004 Pensions Act.
“While the workers insist on their terms of employment, government’s proposition is based on the Pension Act of 2004. However, this matter will most probably be resolved favorably within the coming week by the Presidency.
Involved in the negotiations as well is the coordinating minister of the economy and minister of finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who has temporarily relocated to the commercial capital of Lagos, even during the current national holiday, to be better engaged in the process towards an amicable resolution.
Assuring that all is under control, the government said that “all indications are to the effect that favorable resolutions are being reached and all matters are likely to be resolved within this week, as all these efforts are being made to ensure that the crisis that has caused a lot of hardships to commuters and motorists is not unduly prolonged and does not also extend beyond the city of Abuja in the case of the fuel scarcity.”