George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, on Thursday, condemned the shutdown of the national grid during the recently suspended industrial action by the nation’s organised labour. Akume described the action as treasonable, adding that there was nowhere in the world that organised labour had shut down a country’s national grid.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria’s workers union had shut down the national grid on Monday to join the nationwide strike embarked upon by the organised labour. The national labour union went on strike to compel the government to agree to its demand for a new minimum wage for workers.
The shutdown of the national grid resulted in a nationwide blackout. Addressing the National Executive Council of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Abuja, the SGF stated that President Bola Tinubu was making frantic efforts to rebuild the country, saying that, “they (labour) want to destroy it”.
He said, “Nowhere in the world has labour ever tampered with the national grid. It is treason! A treasonable felony is economic sabotage, you don’t do that. We are trying to rebuild the economy. The President is picking up, and they want to destroy it. Of what use is that to all of us? That is not the way.”
The SGF also said the country’s foreign reserves were zero when the President took over, adding that there had been massive reforms under the incumbent administration.
He said, “We took over in very turbulent weather. Foreign reserves were zero but there have been massive reforms carried out by the President. One of them, which appeared to be a little bit tough for people to understand, is the subsidy removal of fuel. People should stop shouting; they need to know the actual truth.”
