BREAKING: Port Harcourt refinery to commence operations in December — Tinubu

On Wednesday night, President Bola Tinubu provided assurance to the leaders of the organized labour that the Port Harcourt refinery would commence operations by December 2023. The organized labour revealed this information in a statement on the same night.

The statement also mentioned that President Tinubu made a series of promises, which led to the labour leaders agreeing to return to the negotiation table.

The national presidents of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, and the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo, expressed their appreciation to Nigerians for supporting the nationwide protest.

The success of the protest was highlighted by the fact that President Tinubu himself requested a closed-door meeting with the leadership of NLC and TUC. During this engagement, substantial progress was made on the issues that had hindered the work of the Presidential Committee on Subsidy Removal, prompting the protest.

President Tinubu committed to an immediate restructuring of the engagement framework in line with the input of the labour leaders. He also assured that the Port Harcourt Refinery would begin production by December this year and pledged to promptly reach an agreement on the wage award for Nigerian workers.

Additionally, he promised to present a viable roadmap for the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an alternative to the public next week.

Based on the President’s commitments and pledges, the organized labour has decided to return to a new and revitalized dialogue process to facilitate the full implementation of the agreements.

The labour leaders expressed gratitude to Nigerians while awaiting the Government’s fulfillment of its part of the understanding, as agreed with President Tinubu.