Abiodun meets labour leaders over subsidy withdrawal, mulls palliatives for workers
Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has met with labour leaders in the state, saying that his administration is looking into ways to cushion the hardship imposed on the people as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government.
Abiodun, while speaking in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, acknowledged that the subsidy removal would have effect on Nigerians, especially income earners.
He promised that his administration would look into ways of ameliorating the impact on residents. He said: “I called this meeting so that we can rub minds to find different options in view of the recently-announced long awaited deregulation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“We are not, as a responsible administration, unmindful of the consequences that the regulation would cause in terms of its effect on income of workers.
The governor said it was imperative that both government and labour leaders sit and come up with implementable options that would make life bearable for the people, adding that the options should not be seen as compensation for the increase in price of the product, but as a reduction of the impact.
He said that though the subsidy removal was a hard decision on the part of the President, it is imperative as there was no budgetary allocation for it from June 2023.
State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Hameed Benco Ademola, said the meeting was called at the instance of the governor to find ways of cushioning the effect of the deregulation on civil servants and those in the informal sector.
Ademola said that committees were set up with today as the reporting date. He, however, commended the governor for showing concern about the plight of workers in the state, saying that the gesture would go a long way in meeting their needs.
Those present at the meeting were chairmen and secretaries of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Joint Negotiation Council (JNC).
