Adams Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo state, said President Bola Tinubu has an immediate solution to mitigate the impact of the subsidy removal.
This was stated by Oshiomole during an interview.
The former governor expressed confidence that the Federal Government and organized labor will quickly resolve issues arising from the removal of fuel subsidies.
Tinubu, according to Oshiomhole, recognizes the impact of the fuel subsidy withdrawal on Nigerians and is determined to take immediate action to mitigate it.
“This president recognizes that the effect of the withdrawal is already here, that people are already experiencing some level of discomfort, and that there must be an immediate solution to it,” he said.
“Now, that immediate solution is what we discussed, and the fact that we are meeting again on Tuesday shows that clearly, we recognize that this is not one of those things you want to buy time because it has a real negative impact, particularly on the most vulnerable group.”
“However, we have a solution because you are going to save, so take from that savings or even borrow.”
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“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, but it is not something that you want to spend two to three months negotiating,” he said.
On Sunday, Oshiomole, a former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NUC), attended a meeting between the Federal Government and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
He described the meeting as productive, adding that the government will consider all of the TUC’s demands and respond on Tuesday.
Oshiomole stated that if Nigeria can save about N7 trillion by eliminating subsidies, the Federal Government can invest some of that money in the wage sector.
“This is possible because those savings will go into the federation account, which will be distributed among the three tiers of government,” he explained, “and so every tier of government will have more money and should be able to meet the consequential increase in wages.”
