The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, on Monday met with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
The meeting followed the seven-day ultimatum issued to the Federal Government by the NLC to end the naira scarcity.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, had said workers will would go on strike if the issue was not resolved at the expiration of the ultimatum.
Ngige subsequently invited the apex bank leadership and the NLC to a meeting on Monday to resolve the matter.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olajide Oshundun.
The spokesman of the Ministry said: “The ten-man delegation of the NLC was led by the President, Comrade Joe Ajaero and the General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja while the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele was accompanied by two Deputy Governors, Kingsley Obiora (Economic Policy) and Ade Shonubi (Organised Private Sector).”
Ngige refuted the allegation of the NLC that his ministry did nothing about the matter.
He said on receiving the letter from the NLC, he forwarded the same to the CBN Governor before travelling out of the country for an International Labour Organisation Governing Board meeting and directed the Permanent Secretary and Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations Department to follow up.
On his own part, Emefiele said when he received the letter from the Labour Ministry, he called the president of the NLC to brief him on steps taken to alleviate the sufferings of the masses and equally made appointment and had discussion with Ajaero and that they had fruitful discussion.
He said a large volume of funds was made available to the Deposit Money Banks and they were directed to open their branches on Saturdays and Sundays, which they complied with under strict supervision by the CBN.
According to Emefiele, following the steps taken, Nigerians have been enjoying their money.
Earlier, Ajaero said they only got a reply to their second letter to the ministry and subsequently an invitation to the meeting.
He said they no longer envisage any problem since the CBN has started sending cash to the banks and Nigerians were now accessing their money.
He said: “NLC could not have stopped CBN from taking good decisions and implementing them in the interest of the nation.
“If stakeholders were invited and briefed on the policy, when the people complain, NLC would explain everything to them.
“But in this case, the CBN did it alone.
“Moreover, it is a wrong time for administering such a national policy.”
Ajaero promised that the National Executive Committee of the NLC will meet on Tuesday, where members from states and Local Government Areas are expected to report on availability of money, after which a decision will be taken on the strike.
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