According to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, income of members of the National Assembly are insufficient to handle the volume of requests from their constituents.
The Senate President said this in response to a resolution on the need to prevent an upcoming strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which was sponsored by Abdulraman Kawu Suleiman (NNPP, Kano).
He claimed that notwithstanding the significant hardship brought on by the removal of the subsidy on petroleum products, Nigerians must exercise more patience with the government as it develops measures that will mitigate their suffering.
In defence of the motion, Kawu drew the attention of the Senate to the fact that “the strike would cripple the country. Movement would be severely curtailed. Commercial transport operators would withdraw their services, while markets, schools and healthcare facilities would be forced to shut down.” He warned that the action could heat up the polity and gains from the strike could be far below costs to parties in the conflict.
“The strike threat by NLC, if not averted, could plunge Nigeria into deeper economic woes, dislocate businesses, cause hunger, frustration and more hardship that would lead to unquantifiable financial losses and reduce Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.
“The NLC strike is also a bad reputation for the Nigerian economy and the educational system because it portrays the country in a bad light to the external world and discourages foreigners from coming to do business or study in the country,” he said. The Senate, after the debate, mandated its leadership to interface between NLC and the Federal Government to avert the industrial action.
