Oshiomhole speaks on subsidy removal by Nigerian govt

Adams Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo State, has expressed optimism that disagreements between the federal government and organised labour over the elimination of fuel subsidies would be speedily handled.

Oshiomhole, a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, stated that President Bola Tinubu was aware of the effect the removal of the fuel subsidy is having on Nigerians and is committed to acting swiftly to mitigate it.

“This president recognizes that the effect of the withdrawal is already here, people are already going through some level of discomfort and therefore there has to be an immediate solution to it.

“Now that immediate solution is what we discussed and the fact that we are meeting on Tuesday again shows that clearly, we realize that this is not one of those things you want to buy time because it has a real negative impact, on particularly, the most vulnerable group.

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“But we have a solution to it because you are going to make savings, so take from that savings or even if it is borrowing. So, whatever it is, you can leverage some revenue and improve wages to cushion the cost of living, I think it is legitimate, I think it is doable, it is not something that you want to spend two to three months negotiating,” Oshiomhole said.

The Federal Government and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) met on Sunday, and the former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NUC) claimed the meeting was fruitful. He said that the government would take all of the TUC’s demands into consideration and respond on Tuesday.

In addition, Oshiomhole stated that if Nigeria can save about N7 trillion by eliminating subsidies, the federal government can use some of that money to increase wages “because those savings will go into the federation account which will be distributed among the three tiers of government and so every tier of government will have more money and should be able to meet the consequential increase in wages”.

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