Petrol subsidy removal: Edo joins Kwara, slashes weekly working days

Edo Governor, Godwin Obaseki has directed the reduction of working days for civil servants in the state to three, in a bid to ‘reduce the pains and ameliorate the sufferings our people are currently facing due to the current realities.’

‘The directive followed Federal Government’s removal of subsidy on imported premium motor spirit (PMS), or petrol, which came into effect, penultimate Monday, May 29, as announced by President Bola Tinubu, in his inaugural speech in Abuja.

Edo, now joins Kwara State Government, which has also announced reducing the number of working days for civil servants to three from five days.

Governor Obaseki in a personally signed statement, Tuesday, explained that his decision is informed by the need to cushion the effects of the increase in the pump price of petrol on the back of the subsidy removal, which he admitted has ‘increased astronomically leading to rise in prices of goods and services and overall cost of living.’

“The Edo State Government shares the pains of our people and wants to assure everyone that we are standing with them in these very challenging times.

“We want to reassure our people that we will do all within our powers as a subnational government to reduce the pains and ameliorate the sufferings our people are currently facing due to the current realities.

“As a proactive government, we have since taken the step to increase the minimum wage paid to workers in Edo State from the approved N30,000 to N40,000, the highest in the country today.

“We want to assure you that we will continue to pay this amount, while we hope to increase it even further, if more allocation accrues to our State from the Federal Government in view of the expected savings occasioned by the removal of the fuel subsidy.

“We know the hardship that has been caused by this policy which has radically increased the cost of transportation, eating deep into the wages of workers in the State. Therefore, the Edo State Government is hereby reducing the number of work days that civil and public servants will have to commute to their workplaces from five days a week to three days a week till further notice. Workers will now work from home two days every week.

“Similarly, for teachers and parents, their commuting to school will be reduced as government is working on deepening the EdoBEST@Home initiative to create more virtual classrooms, thereby reducing the cost of commuting on parents, teachers and pupils. The Edo SUBEB will provide details on this initiative in the coming days.

“To lower the rising cost of energy on our people, we will continue to work with the electricity companies in the State to improve power supply to homes and businesses.

“Similarly, fibre optic connections are being made available to help our people work remotely, thereby reducing their cost of transportation.

“While government intensifies these efforts to alleviate the burden of the fuel price increase on the people during this very challenging period, we want to call on everyone to remain calm and go about their daily businesses lawfully,” Obaseki said.

It would be recalled that earlier, Monday, the Kwara Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had, after meeting with labour leaders in the state, approved the immediate reduction of workdays for the workforce in the state to lessen the impact of the subsidy removal on their earnings.

According the governor’s directive, civil servants will now work for three days in the state, as against the normal five days.

The governor further directed the civil service management to release further guidance on the measure, including how it affects health workers and teachers.

“Removal of subsidy is definitely a painful decision that the government had to take in the larger interest of the country. It is the cheapest and most sustainable option available to curb criminal bleeding of the resources at the expense of the larger public.

“Subsidy regime means Nigeria is running a deficit budget that continues to hurt economic growth and make people poorer. The country was having to borrow to feed a tiny few, while important things like infrastructural development, industrial growth, job creation receive lesser resources.

“Now that subsidy has been removed as there is no provision for it in the budget anymore, the government is open to veritable ideas from the labour unions on how to redirect the savings for maximum public benefit, including pay rise.

“Mr President and all of us (Governors) really acknowledge the short-term pains that come with the development, but we are committed to making sure that the interest of the workers and the Nigerian people is protected,” read excerpts of the governor’s address to the Labour leaders.