Nigeria labour unions strike called off at last minute

Labour Unions in Nigeria have suspended their planned nationwide strike that was to begin on Monday, Labour Minister Festus Keyamo has said on Twitter.

The suspension follows overnight talks between the government and the unions.

The strike was to protest against the recent doubling of electricity bills, an increase in petrol price and high cost of living in the country, the BBC's Ishaq Khalid reports.

The government had said the measures were needed to shore up the economy which has been badly affected by the fall in global oil prices due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The minister said the electricity tariffs will now be suspended for two weeks and a committee formed to "examine the justification for the new policy".

FG & LABOUR reach agreement at 2:53am. Deregulation to stay as Govt rolls out palliatives for labour (details in 2 weeks); Electricity tariffs suspended by Govt for 2 weeks with a joint Committee headed by @fkeyamo to examine the justification for the new policy. Strike suspended pic.twitter.com/9tOTlJ9o1l

— Festus Keyamo, SAN (@fkeyamo) September 28, 2020