*How Can A Govt That Removed Fuel Subsidy And Pushed Petrol Price To Over N1,000/L Be Telling Workers That N70,000 Is Relief? N70,000 Cannot Even Buy 50 Litres Of Fuel. This Is Not Relief, This Is Mockery – Atiku
By our reporter
The N70,000 six-month transport support agreed by the Federal Government (FG) and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has come under serious fire as Trade Union Congress (TUC), the umbrella body for senior staff members, has rejected the amount.
TUC’s position on the matter seemed to resonate with former Vice President and presidential candidate of opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) Atiku Abubakar, who pooh poohed the N70,000 relief idea, thumbing it down as mocking Nigerian workers, given that the amount, in his view, cannot even buy 50 litres of petrol.
The TUC is, in lieu of the transport stipend, pressing for a minimum salary of N300,000.
People&Politics recalls that a resolution/agreement meeting on Tuesday, 27 October, following NLC’s pressure and demands for better welfare packages for workers, who are still reeling under the burden of dire economic hardship occasioned by government’s removal of fuel subsidy on 29 May, 2023, FG, through the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, announced the agreement on payment of the monetary support, which it said will run for six months.
It added that workers will begin enjoying it from next month (November).
However, in a statement by TUC President, Comrade Festus Osifo, and the union’s Secretary-General, Comrade N. A. Toro, today, the senior workers’ body declared the said N70,000 support as unrealistic and incapable of tiding workers over the roiling turbulence of the current hardship.
Pointing to the rising cost of living, high inflation and the removal of fuel subsidy, TUC dismissed N70,000 as “grossly inadequate.”
What can go some way to relieve workers of the load, TUC asserted, is a salary of N300,000.
The union warned that workers will not accept anything less than N300,000, saying Nigerian employees deserve a better deal.
The TUC said that the government’s alleged failure to keep its promises has struck at confidence in agreements reached between labour and the authorities.
“TUC then calls on governments at all levels to implement measurable interventions to reduce the cost of essential goods and services, ensure timely payment of salaries and pensions, protect existing jobs, curb exploitative labour practices and revitalize the productive sector to create decent employment,” it said.
Joining the raging conversation, Atiku Abubakar, more simply known as Atiku, berated President Bola Tinubu over the N70,000 transport support.
A statement by his senior media aide, Phrank Shuaibu, today, said N70,000 cannot buy 50 litres of fuel in present-day Nigeria, describing Tinubu’s relief package as an insult to workers.
Atiku described as wicked and insensitive the Tinubu government’s in celebrating N70,000 as relief when inflation has destroyed the purchasing power of workers.
“How can a government that removed fuel subsidy and pushed petrol price to over N1,000 per litre be telling workers that N70,000 is relief? N70,000 cannot even buy 50 litres of fuel. This is not relief, this is mockery,” Atiku said.
The former Vice President stressed that Nigerian workers are going through hell under Tinubu’s administration, with food prices skyrocketing, transport costs unbearable and salaries worthless.
He insisted that Tinubu’s economic reforms have only brought pain, hunger and hardship to ordinary Nigerians while government officials continue to live in luxury.
Atiku called on the FG to immediately come up with a living wage that reflects current economic realities, not tokenism.
