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Shoprite employees protest wages, reveal new owner set to takeover in April

Shoprite employees have protested unpaid gratuity, as they accuse the South African-owned supermarket of selling off the Nigerian subsidiary without seeing through their memorandum of understanding (MOU).

According to one of the protesters in a video shared online, Shoprite and the national body for the employees were supposed to meet last month, February, over wages of the employees, but the meeting didn’t hold.

The protesters blocked the entrance of Shoprite in Ikeja City Mall (ICM) to make their displeasure known concerning how the management of Shoprite was handling the situation.

The protesters alleged that the Nigerian subsidiary has been sold to new owners, who are expected to takeover Shoprite Nigeria next month, April 2021. The revelation of new ownership corresponds with Shoprite’s announcement in 2020, that it will exit the Nigerian market.

Shoprite said it wants to divest its holdings in Retail Supermarkets Nigeria – owners of Shoprite Nigeria – to focus on its homefront, which is South Africa.

This means about 26 outlets owned by Shoprite South Africa in Nigeria will go under the new ownership.

Shoprite Nigeria is worth about N24 billion according to its financial statements, this reveals the amount range new owners will pay to takeover Shoprite. The company had planned 2020 for its exit, although the South African retailer hasn’t confirmed it has fully exited thevNigerian market.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Wednesday said the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) will be passed into law in April.

The Speaker gave Nigerians this assurance at the public hearing organized by the Ad-hoc Committee of the House on the bill.

“We intend to pass this bill by April. That is the commitment we have made. Some may consider it a tall order but we will do it without compromising the thoroughness,” Gbajabiamila said while making a remark at the hearing.

Also speaking at the public hearing, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Silva, expressed his joy that after 20 years of its introduction to the national assembly, both the Senate and the House have shown sustained determination to pass the bill into law.

On his part, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, was optimistic that oil will still be relevant in the next 30 years.

Kyari said the passage of the bill into law will bring about the needed vigour and transparency that would, in turn, engender productivity in the petroleum industry.

The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mohammed Nami who also spoke, said:

“The bill, when passed into law, will promote economic growth and make the petroleum sector competitive.

“FIRS is in total support to develop the oil and gas industry in line with international best practices.”