UPDATE 1-Nigeria's main unions suspend planned strike after government talks

(Adds details, quotes)
By Angela Ukomadu
LAGOS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Nigerian labour unions agreed
with the government on Monday to suspend a planned strike over
fuel and power price rises hours before businesses were due to
grind to a halt, the labour minister and trade unions said.
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), which represents
millions of workers across most sectors of Africa's biggest
economy, including parts of the oil industry, last week
announced its plans to embark on a general strike.
Nigeria cut costly subsidies in September to allow the
petrol price to be determined by the market and increased the
power tariff. President Muhammadu Buhari had said Nigeria could
no longer afford the subsidies but the unions said a reversal of
price hikes was needed to avert the strike.
The strike was due to begin on Monday but Labour and
Employment Minister Festus Keyamo said in a statement, posted on
Twitter, that an agreement was reached between the government
and unions at 2:53 a.m. (0153 GMT). "Strike suspended," he
wrote.
He said the deregulation of petrol pump prices would remain
in place and the government would roll out a financial support
package for workers, and a joint committee comprising of
government officials and labour union members would over a
two-week period examine the justification for the electricity
tariff policy.
A communique issued by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress
(TUC) stated that the strike had been suspended and outlined the
details outlined by Keyamo.
Africa's top oil exporter has been under pressure from
international lenders such as the World Bank to carry out
reforms to qualify for budget support loans after the
coronavirus pandemic triggered an oil price crash that slashed
the government's income.
Cheap fuel prices have long been seen by many in Nigeria as
a benefit of living in an oil-producing country. Previous
attempts to eliminate subsidies were scuppered due to social
unrest.