The Nigeria Labour Congress has urged the incoming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari to sanitise the oil and gas sector to overcome the inherent corruption in the system.
The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said this in Abuja on Tuesday at an interactive session with intending NLC delegates to the International Labour Conference.
The News Agency of Nigeria report that the ILC, which will hold from June 1 to June 13 in Geneva, Switzerland, has as its theme: “Building a Future with Decent Work.”
Wabba said the issue of fuel shortage was long overdue for resolution, stating that the sensitisation process should commence immediately the president-elect assumes office.
He said Buhari should also do everything possible to fix the power sector, investigate and prosecute people that had benefited from the system at the expense of the masses.
He said the systems needed to be unlocked because the inherent corruption in it had inflicted untold hardship on Nigerians.
He said: “There is a lot of cabal in the oil and gas sector.
“My position is that we should do the needful and bring serious reforms to that sector.
“We need those social changes that can drive the process affectively.
“For instance: why do we continue to import finished product?
“Among member state in the OPEC community, it is only Nigeria that does not have the capacity to refine products.
“This is man-made and it is part of our social problem.
“So why can’t we fix it for the good of the economy?”
Wabba said in 2011, the labour movement entered into agreement with the Federal Government to revitalise the refineries to full capacity.
The agreement also stated that government should build modular refineries within two years to address domestic needs.
He said: “Up till now, nothing has happened.
“That is why there is recurrent challenge of shortage of petroleum product.”
Wabba said the interactive session for NLC delegates was imperative for them to understand the conventions, rules, regulations that guide the work place and how it was implemented across the globe.
He said the benefits of the conference were enormous, especially as it concerns the economy, development in the labour workforce, welfare and wellbeing of workers.
Denis Zulu, the Deputy Director of the ILO Office for English speaking countries in Africa, said the interactive session was to know the level of preparedness of Nigeria to attend the conference.
Zulu said the programme was to educate the delegates on the aims and objectives of presenting well articulated reports at the conference.
He said: “The Nigerian labour movement is being rated high in the African continent and Nigerians must attend the conference well prepared since they are also the mouth piece of some small countries in Africa.
“The interactive session is supposed to give you the opportunity to come up with proper recommendations that would be presented at the conference.”
Seija Sturies, the Resident Representative of Nigeria to Friedrich Ebert Stifund, said that the programme was organised for the Nigerian delegation for them to make their position clear.
“The Labour movement will benefit from the conference because the NLC and the TUC will have clearer position towards the new government,” Sturies said.
NAN.