The Election petition tribunals sitting across the country Might shut down this week as the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) announced that it would join the Nigeria Labour Congress in a joint action over the removal of federal subsidies on petroleum products.
The judicial workers’ union in a memo dated June 3 said its members would proceed on a solidarity protest strike with the Nigeria Labour Congress, the largest workers affiliate, on Wednesday.
“This is to inform all branches and chapters of our great union across Nigeria to begin mobilisation for a nationwide action and withdrawal of service,”
The General Secretary, M.J Akwashiki Also directed all Zonal Vice Presidents to coordinate their Zones by ensuring that branch And Chapters Chairmen to Mobilize their Members for a total Compliance on Wednesday, 7th June 2023.
This is coming after the National Union of Electricity Employees also informed its members to withdraw services in protest against fuel subsidy removal.
Recall that The President, Bola Tinubu, had in his inaugural speech on May 29 said “subsidy is gone”. His pronouncement triggered panic across the country uas citizens rushed to buy fuel while oil marketers suddenly increased pump prices.
Tinubu maintained that subsidies on petroleum have, over the decades, benefitted Nigeria’s rich and upper working class to the detriment of the poor. He vowed to divert savings from the removal to shore up infrastructure spending, as well as poverty-alleviation initiatives that target the country’s masses.
On May 31, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced pump price increases that saw a jump from N195 per litre to over N500 nationwide
Former President Muhammadu Buhari, who vacated office on May 29, had planned that subsidies on petrol would expire by the end of June, eliminating provisions for the critical policy in the 2023 budget.
