Anastasia Okechukwu Reporting
Following expiration of the seven days ultimatum issued to the Federal Government to address the cash and fuel scarcity crises in the country, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has directed public sector workers in the country to embark on Nationwide strike next Wednesday.
Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), gave the directive on Wednesday in a press briefing at Labour House in Abuja.
He said the decision to picket CBN branches became necessary as the federal government and the CBN have failed to show any commitment to addressing the situation.
Ajaero lamented that despite the supreme court order that the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes remain legal tender until December 31, 2023, the situation kept getting worse.
He said workers could not access cash to pay fares to work nor buy food for their families.
“Last week, we gave an ultimatum for the review of the cash crunch bedevilling the country, but we have discovered to our dismay that as at this moment not much effort has been made to ameliorate the situation. Government is still foot-dragging on these issues we raised,” Ajaero said.
“Based on this, we met again this morning to review our position and resolved that by Wednesday next week all CBN branches will be picketed. Workers are directed to stay at home too because people cannot eat, workers can no longer go to the office, we have been pushed to the wall.
“We have decided to take our destiny in our hands, we have mobilised our workers on this exercise.”