The Organised Labour has described the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government as dictatorial for jettisoning the Presidential Steering Committee on palliatives among others.
Recall that the federal government had set up the committee to work out the palliatives amongst other things to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal that has worsened the living conditions of Nigerians, especially workers.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, the President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Dr Tommy Okon said the federal government failed to consult labour and the committee before announcing the N8,000 cash transfer to 12 million households.
Okon, a member of the sub-committee of the Presidential Steering Committee on Cost of Governance, said President Tinubu should have allowed the committee to submit its report before taking action on palliatives.
He argued that the declaration of a state of emergency on food by the government would have little or no impact until the worsening insecurity in the country was checkmated.
He said, “The policy of cash transfer by the federal government is not the best for the economy.
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“President Tinubu should have allowed the fuel subsidy committee to submit its report before taking actions on palliatives.
“Why were we (organized Labour) invited to be part of the subsidy removal palliative committee when our opinion will not be considered? I am a member of the sub-committee on cost of governance.
“I can tell you for free that we have not even met once. We are not happy at all.
“The cash transfer policy is an International Monetary Fund, IMF, and World Bank idea. In fact, it was N5, 000 the IMF and World gave the government as template.
“When the government brought it to our meeting with them, we rejected it. Even if it N20, 000 or more, it can’t solve anything.
“How can the IMF and the World Bank be borrowing us money and also telling us how to spend it, not even in the productive sector of the economy, but to share to some people based on the IMF and World Bank’s template.
“On the recently declaration of emergency on Food, he argued that the declaration of a state of emergency on food by the government would have little or no impact until the worsening insecurity in the country was checkmated.
He said “Mr. President has declared a state of emergency on food. But that would not guarantee food security because farmers are being chased away from their farms. In some parts of Niger State, for example, farmers are being made to pay terrorists to access their farms.
“Labour will also want to see a palliative that addresses the transportation difficulty faced by Nigerians as a result of the hike in petrol pump prices which has triggered unprecedented increases in transportation fares across the country.
“So, if the government focuses on mass transportation, such move will have a positive spillover effect that will cushion the challenges associated with the removal of fuel subsidy.
“The major challenge we are having now is on transportation, because once it is taken care of, it will reduce the cost of goods and services. Alternatively, the government can also cluster those in the informal sector, who are into productive venture, and then pump in money into them; that will have a turn-over effect that will make them employers of labour, which can also checkmate and reduce unemployment.
“It can also give them the capital they need and economic strength, which is money.”
