NULGE urges Tinubu to make sacrifices by cutting down on cost of governance

The Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has reacted to calls made by President Bola Tinubu for Nigerians to make more sacrifices for the country, telling him to lead by example by cutting down the cost of governance and reducing salaries of political appointees.

NULGE, which made the appeal at the commissioning of the NULGE Hotels and Suites in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State on Monday, also called for a single institution fixing salaries of workers and that of political officeholders to ensure parity since there is the same market system across the country.

National President of the NULGE, Comrade Olatunji Hakeem Ambali, who spoke at the event, demanded a 300 per cent increase in salaries of local government workers to mitigate the effect of the fuel subsidy removal and high cost of living.

“I believe government should review the Orosanye report and restructure the MDAs so that at the end of the day, we cut down the cost of governance,” he said.

“Not only that, the retinue of aids should be cut down and the salaries and wages of the political office holders should be reviewed downward.

Read also: Democracy Day: I feel your pains, there is hope ahead, Tinubu tells Nigerians

“We operate within the same market system in the country; there is no reason to have two bodies fixing wages and salaries. Labour is of the opinion that we should either put the task on the Wages and Salaries Commission or allow the Revenue and Fiscal Commission to take up the responsibility so that there will be parity in salaries and the same instrument will be used to fix salaries.

“That is the way to go. It is time to make available palliatives to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal. We are shocked that after one month of the removal, nothing has been done by the federal government. We are confident that President Tinubu knows what he is doing, but the delay could be dangerous. It is time for him to sit down and address that.

“Salaries of workers should be immediately reviewed upward because it would rub off on the market people and other informal sectors. We demand that the salary of workers be increased by 300% to cushion the effect of the pain we are going through,” Ambali said.

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