Ajaokuta Steel
The United Labour Congress (ULC) has condemned in strong terms the
planned sale of Ajaokuta steel company by the Buhari-led federal
government to finance the 2018 budget, according to Daily Post.
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin
Emefiele, had earlier in the week in Indonesia, said the Federal
Government is ready to offer more of its assets for sale soon, under the
ongoing privatisation programme aimed at raising more money to
implement the country’s 2018 budget deficit.
Kogi State chairman of the ULC, Comrade Opaluwa Eleojo, in a
statement obtained by DAILY POST on Thursday, stated that the proposed
sale is intended to hand over the nation’s patrimony to the friends and
cronies of the current government.
“The proposed sale is criminal, as it is aimed at depriving the good people of the state their rights.
“We shall mobilize the labour movement and civil society groups in the state to resist that open and an official robbery.
“We have observed from the day one of this administration, that
it will lead to this, as the government has been very hypothetical on
the way it has handled the the issue of its completion,” the statement
read.
In a related development, Kogi Elders Forum vehemently opposed the
purported plan by the Federal Government to sell the Ajaokuta Steel
Company to fund the 2018 budget.
In a press release signed by the Chairman of the Forum, Chief
Julius Elukpo, the elders vowed to resist any attempt to sell the steel
complex through constitutional means.
Elukpo said its position was sequel to a statement credited to the
CBN governor that government intends to sell the company and others to
fund the 2018 budget.
He described the government’s proposal as “a rude shock”, saying an outright sale of the steel plant would not be in the best interest of the nation.
Elukpo warned that the forum would make the company a campaign
issue for the 2019 election, saying that the people of the state would
be mobilized to vote for any presidential candidate ready to complete
the project.