‘The right to protest is the fundamental right of every Nigerian’- TUC replies Tinubu

The Trade Union Congress, TUC, has responded to a recent jibe thrown at labour unions in the country by President Bola Tinubu in Lagos on Thursday.

The President went ballistic while inaugurating the first phase of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Red Line project, where he criticized the Tuesday nationwide protest organized by the NLC over the worsening hunger, suffering and poverty across the country. Tinubu told the NLC to ‘meet him’ in 2027 if they wanted to do politics.

Speaking on Channels Television on Friday, President of TUC, Festus Osifo, reminded the Nigerian leader that it was the fundamental right of the citizens to protest.

He also said that the President’s claim of waiting till 2027 to enter into politics was alien going by the situation of things in Nigeria under his watch.

“I listened to that comment yesterday where he [President Tinubu] said that we should wait till 2027 if we want to contest for election.

“For me, I can speak for the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria. For us, we’re not politicians. We are unionists. The right to protest is the fundamental right of every Nigerian.

“We don’t have issues with protest. When need be people must exercise their rights. People must protest. In terms of waiting till 2027 to enter into politics, I don’t think…I as an individual don’t belong to any political party. I’m not a card carrier of any political party.

“What I’m interested in is the welfare of my members and indeed the entire Nigerian masses. For me, what the President said is alien to us because the right to protest and the right to strike is that of the workers.

“There are lingering issues. The fact that you’re going to protest or strike something led to it. Those fundamental issues should have to be addressed.”