NLC faults IMF for excluding Nigeria from debt relief

The Nigeria Labour Congress says Nigeria ought to benefit from the debt relief fund the International Monetary Fund granted 25 countries to fight the COVI-19 pandemic.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva had said the institution would provide $500m in grant-based debt service relief to Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Togo and Yemen.

NLC President Ayuba Wabba, in a statement yesterday, said Nigeria deserved the relief funds due to its economic crisis arising from the recent plunge in the price of crude oil.

He said a population as large as Nigeria’s “with very active citizens could be a major epicentre for future global waves of COVID-19 if very robust and adequate support is not extended to Nigeria to fight and contain the corona virus pandemic.

“During the two weeks initial lockdown in Lagos State, Ogun State and the Federal Capital Territory, there were reports of increased tension, unrests and criminal activities in different parts of the country.”