President Bola Tinubu has directed the National Economic Council to fashion out modalities on palliatives and minimum wage review as part of measures to cushion the effect of subsidy removal on Nigerians.
Tinubu gave the charge at the NEC meeting on Wednesday where he directed Vice President Kashim Shettima to mobilise various interventions to cushion the hardship faced by the most vulnerable Nigerians.
In a statement by the State House Director of Information, Abiodun Oladunjoye said the
The President described the level of impoverishment in the country as “unacceptable,” urging state governors to collaborate with the Federal Government to tackle poverty nationwide.
He advised the political leaders to downplay their differences and jointly focus on alleviating the sufferings and pains of the people,
“We can see the effects of poverty on the faces of our people. Poverty is not hereditary, it is from society. Our position is to eliminate poverty. Set aside partisan politics, we are here to deliberate about Nigeria and nation-building.
“We have managed ourselves very well to have a democracy. We have campaigned and arrived at our present destination. We must work for our people.
“How do we address the unacceptable level of poverty? How much are we investing in education, which is the only tool against poverty? I am ready to collaborate with you,” Tinubu reportedly told the governors, while assuring them that he would maintain an open-door policy.
While briefing State House Correspondents after the meeting,
Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, hinted that the palliatives, upward review of minimum wages and any measures put in place to alleviate masses sufferings are temporary, saying the utmost was to look at the direction where vehicles will be using Compress Natural Gas( NCG and Electricity) instead of the high cost of fuel and dissel .
According to Dapo Abiodun, “In completeness, whatever it is we do today, be it minimum wage increase, be it transport allowance, be it the provision of any form of intervention, are only stopgaps.
“What we need to begin to look at is an energy transition for the whole country, where we have to appreciate the fact that we can no longer power our vehicles with either diesel or petrol at the current prices.”
He said the government was turning its attention to what was obtainable in other countries such as Egypt whose government had converted its mass transit vehicles to run on Compressed Natural Gas.
Aside the Vice-President, the NEC comprises 36 state governors, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and other co-opted government officials.