…Mulls palliatives for workers
Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has said that his administration is looking into ways of cushioning the hardship on the people as the result of the deregulation of Premium Motor Spirit by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led-administration.
Speaking at a meeting with labour leaders in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the governor acknowledged that the action of the federal government would impact negatively on Nigerians, especially the disposable income of the worker.
“I called this meeting so that we can rob minds to find different options in view of the recently announced long awaited deregulation of the Premium Motor Spirit otherwise known as petrol by President Ahmed Tinubu.
“We are not, as a responsible administration unmindful of the consequences that the deregulation would cause in terms of its effect on the disposable income of the workers. We have noted that the price of Petrol is now N500 from slightly above N200. There is a relationship between cost of PMS and transportation and cost of transportation and cost of goods and services.
“Since the announcement, as the governor and a player in the industry, I have been concerned on the multiplier effects as it would affect workers going to and from work and how it would affect their responsibilities and wellbeing,” governor Abiodun noted.
He said it was imperative for both government and the labour leaders to sit and come up with implementable options that will make life bearable for the people, adding however that the options should not be seen as compensation for the increase in the price of product, but to reduce the impact.
According to the governor, “what obtained in the past was that N4 trillion was spent annually. We had to borrow the money to subsidize our energy cost and it was not efficiently utilized. Our petrol made their way to Cameroun, Benin Republic, Togo and other West African countries around us.
“We are confident that with this action, we can know the true consumption of PMS in Nigeria and the savings can be used for other sectors for the benefit of our people.
The State helmsman observed that though it was a hard decision on the part of President Tinubu, it was imperative as there was no budgetary allocation for subsidy.
Briefing newmen after the meeting, the State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Hameed Benco Ademola, said the meeting was called by the governor to find ways of cushioning the effect of the deregulation of petrol on civil servants and those in the informal sector.
Comrade Ademola disclosed that the meeting was divided into Committees with Thursday this week as the reporting date.
He commended the governor for caring about the plight of the State workers, saying 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).