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).
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige announced the revalidation of the venue in a statement at the weekend by the, Director of Press and Public Relations of the ministry, Olajide Oshundun.
Ngige urged all invited guests, including the President, Vice President, Ministers, diplomatic missions and international partners, to endeavour to be at the venue, which remained “sacrosanct.”
The Minister gave this assurance following media reports that the Federal Government, acting through the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), has withdrawn the permit granted to the NLC to use the Eagle Square for this year’s May Day celebration, for reasons bordering on the preparation of the venue for the May 29 inauguration of President-elect, Bola Tinubu.
He said on getting the information, he contacted his colleague, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammad Bello, who attributed the development to some overzealous officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) , acting without his authority.
Ngige said following his consultation with the FCT Minister, the NLC has been asked to go ahead with its preparation for the May Day celebration at Eagle Square, which the President, Ministers, other top government officials and the diplomatic missions are expected to attend.
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 actually 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.
<<The Nation>>