President Bola Tinubu met with leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Tuesday night in a bid to forestall the nationwide protest scheduled for Wednesday.

The NLC delegation, led by its President, Joe Ajaero, held the meeting at the State House in Abuja.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Ajaero did not confirm whether the protest would go ahead, emphasizing that the decision would be made collectively. “If I’m insisting, I’m not insisting. I will communicate to you. It is not an organisation that one person rules. Let’s go back now. You have a meeting of labour and the governor’s forum. We’ll go back to the drawing board and digest all that Mr President said to us, and move forward from there,” he said.

He added that the union’s leadership would meet early Wednesday to decide on the next steps. “We came for consultation with the president, and we are finished. So, we have to go back to our meeting and then continue tomorrow. By tomorrow, we will get the outcome.”

The NLC is expected to announce later on Wednesday whether the planned protest will proceed.

The meeting was attended by APC Governors’ Forum Chairman Hope Uzodimma, Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo, Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris, and the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.