President Bola Tinubu and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, have jointly called upon the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress to reconsider their scheduled strike against the removal of fuel subsidies.

The labor unions had set October 3rd as the commencement date for an indefinite strike in protest of the fuel subsidy removal. During a public lecture and special Juma’at prayer marking Nigeria’s 63rd independence anniversary in Abuja, President Tinubu, represented by Senator Jibrin Barau, urged workers not to proceed with the strike. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to mitigating the impact of the subsidy removal.

In a statement from the media aide to the Deputy Senate President, Ismail Mudashir, he stressed the need for dialogue and understanding between labor leaders and the government to address the country’s challenges collectively. The President emphasized that the government had allocated N500 billion and introduced other measures to ease the subsidy removal’s effects.

Similarly, the Sultan of Sokoto, in his appeal, urged organized labor to grant the Federal Government another opportunity for resolution. He implored them to reconsider their strike plans in the interest of the nation, highlighting the potential harm such a strike could inflict, citing his involvement in labor-government negotiations since 2007.