Your Statement Alien To Us, We Have Right To Protest – TUC Fires Back At Tinubu

The Trade Union Congress on Friday fired back at President Bola Tinubu over his statement slamming organised labour for protesting within the first nine months of his administration.

Osun Defender reports that Tinubu had on Thursday in Lagos, told labour unions to stop their protests and wait for 2027 to join the political process.

The president who threw the jab during the inauguration of the Lagos Red Line project, said, “The Labour Union should understand that no matter how long we cling to our freedom and rights, the first strike within nine months of an administration is unacceptable.

“If you want to participate in the electoral process, wait until 2027. If not maintain peace. You are not the only voice of Nigerians.”

But the President of the TUC, Festus Osifo, while speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme on Friday, said that members of the TUC are unionists and not politicians, hence, they have the right to protest.

He said, “I listened to that comment yesterday where he said that we should wait for 2027 if we want to contest for elections. I could speak for the Trade Union Congress, we are not politicians, we are unionists, it is our right to protest – it is a fundamental right of every single Nigeria.

“So we don’t have issues with protests, when need be, people will exercise their rights and people must protest. In terms of waiting till 2027 to enter into politics, I don’t think that is something we could dabble into because I as an individual am not a card-carrying member of any political party.”

He added that the statement of the President was alien to him, saying, “What I am interested in is the welfare of my members and indeed the entire Nigerian masses. So, what the president said for me is alien to us because the right to protest and the right to strike is that of the workers.

“There are condition precedents, for the fact that you are going on protest or strike, there are some things that led to it, those fundamental issues must be addressed,” he said.