The Federal Government has revalidated the use of Eagle Square Abuja by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for the annual May Day parade in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige made the announcement in a statement at the weekend by the Director of Press and Public Relations of the ministry, Olajide Oshundun.
Ngige urged all guests, including the President, Vice President, Ministers, diplomatic missions, and international partners, to endeavour to be at the venue, which remained “sacrosanct.”
The statement read: “The attention of the Honourable Minister has been drawn to press releases and statements in the media that the Federal Government disapproved of the NLC using the Eagle Square for the annual May Day parade for reasons bordering on the preparation of the venue for the May 29 inauguration of President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“On receiving the report, the Minister contacted his colleague, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Muhammad Bello, who blamed the development on some overzealous officials, acting without his authority, as well as a minor communication gap between the FCDA, the Federal Government Transition Committee, and the NLC.
“It was the contractor handling the renovation of the Eagle Square that informed the Transition Committee for the handover ceremony that they erected their equipment even before last Thursday when the Nigerian Army used the venue for an event attended by the President.
“Consequently, the FCT Minister assured the Minister of Labour and Employment that the place is available for NLC to use on May 1, which is the workers’ day.
“This May Day is the last in the life of this administration. The NLC parade belongs to everybody, including government, diplomatic missions, international organisations, organised labour and affiliate unions, and members of the public. The President, Ministers, and others cannot shut themselves out. The Eagle Square is still available for all these individuals.”
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