ABUJA (AFP) – The Federal Government panel in talks with trade unions over a spike in petrol prices was weighing its options Sunday to avert the continuation of a strike that has shut down Africa’s top oil exporter.
A team of top cabinet ministers and powerful state governors was meeting Senate president David Mark who has been mediating between the two sides in the dispute.
“We are meeting and finding solutions to this problem,” Rotimi Amaechi, governor of the oil hub of Rivers State, told reporters.
Nigeria’s unions have vowed to press ahead with the week-old nationwide strike on Monday if a deal over fuel prices is not reached before then. But they put a threat to halt crude production on hold for now.
“We have looked at the solutions and we think that with labour, we can find a joint solution to the problem,” said Amaechi.
Talks late Saturday between the team and labour leaders in Africa’s largest oil producer ended without a compromise.
The sudden lifting of subsidies on fuel on January 1, saw petrol prices more than double.
Labour unions led a nationwide strike that brought tens of thousands of protesters on to the streets in the past week to demand a return of fuel prices to their old level.
The unions said the talks had failed because the government refused to reduce petrol prices to pre-January 1 levels before further negotiations, as demanded by labour leaders.
The strike and protests have been put on hold for the weekend, but will resume on Monday if no deal is reached, the country’s main unions said.
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