Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday said it would embark on a nationwide strike if government goes ahead with its plans to withdraw petroleum subsidy.

The union disclosed this in a statement by its Acting Head of Information and Public Relations Comrade Onah Iduh who said the attention of the NLC had been drawn to a statement by the Minister of Finance Mr Olusegun Aganga, on the issue of withdrawal of subsidies on petroleum products.

Iduh said "according to Mr Aganga, this plan is as a result of government's investment in mass transit system which, he said, will ease the impact of subsidy withdrawal on the masses.

"As far as Congress is concerned, the position of the honourable minister is completely against the subsisting dialogue between labour and government which began a few weeks Dr Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as President and Commander-in-Chief when he set up a committee to look at labour's critical areas of concern.

"To the best of our knowledge, nothing meaningful has come out of the discussion up to now. We see the minister's comment therefore as pre-emptive of the dialogue and invariably a mark of government's insincerity on the policies of subsidy and deregulation."

He added, "NLC still remains opposed to the twin policies of subsidy withdrawal and deregulation principally because the arguments usually advanced by government do not take into consideration the broader social and economic ramifications on especially the masses who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of subsidy.

"The implications of the removal of subsidy go far beyond the question of availability of mass transit system or whatever amount of money government would be saving. It is essentially the question of government living up to its basic responsibility of providing governance in the best interest of the masses.