Following the announcement of the disbursement of N5 billion palliative to each state of the federation and FCT by the National Executive Council (NEC) on Thursday in order to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy, the National Labour Congress (NLC) has faulted the move of the Federal Government, describing a way for governors to loot.
It would be recalled that the removal of the fuel subsidy on May 29 by President Bola Tinubu led to an increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirt (PMS) otherwise called petrol or fuel and prices of goods and services, pushing millions of Nigerians into poverty and worsening the socio-economic situation in the country.
The development triggered nationwide protests by organised labour which insisted on the repair of refineries as a precondition for the subsidy withdrawal two weeks ago.
But announcing the release of the palliative at the end of the 135th NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima in Abuja, the Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, disclosed that the N5bn was to enable the state governments to procure 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize and fertilizers to cushion the effect of food shortage across the country.
He added that considering the urgency in meeting the need to mitigate the skyrocketing food prices across the country, the Federal Government had last week released five trucks of rice to each state of the federation.
However, the NLC and its counterpart, Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Friday while reacting to the development insisted that politicians and not the poor would benefit from the N5bn largess given to each state government for disbursement to the citizens.
The Assistant National Secretary-General of the NLC, Mr Chris Onyeka, wondered why the FG was releasing money to governors, many of whom he said had refused to pay the minimum wage.
He dismissed the palliative fund as paltry, noting that it would not get to the intended beneficiaries as the governors can’t be trusted.
“The money will not get to the people, let them share the money as they want but what the NLC agreed with them were certain milestones. The NLC will close its eyes to what the Federal Government is trying to give to the governors.
“To us as far as we are concerned, NLC will still stick to the milestones that we have agreed on, we will insist that those things are discussed and implemented to the letter.’’
“When the Federal Government wants to subvert the instrument of dialogue, it intentionally creates problems. The Federal Government had already started engaging using this instrument when they engaged the NLC; for them now to go and sit down at the level of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and to go and pretend to give them money is a subversion of social dialogue, subversion of peace, and a subversion of democracy because it is not democratic.”
Correspondingly, the TUC Deputy National President, Tommy Etim stressed that governors could not be trusted with the implementation of the palliative funds.
“It is one thing to make pronouncements, implementation is another thing. I am sure you remember what happened to the COVID-19 palliatives in 2020 when foodstuffs were stored in warehouses and kept from hungry citizens.
“Same thing with the issue of the Paris Club relief fund that some governors went to hide in the bank so that they could get some from it while citizens were starving.
“We need a body that will follow up on the implementation because left to the state governors, the palliatives may not get to places where they should get. We need a body that will make them accountable.
“We need the citizens to be aware. The body should let everyone know when each state gets its own relief (package). Everyone should know the details that are received by each state, how the packages were distributed,’’ he suggested.
Also, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the Federal Government was about sharing N2,000 and a cup of rice to poor people across the country.
He also stated that the governors could not be trusted, as most of them were not paying minimum wage, adding that no committee was established to ensure the successful implementation of the initiative.
Ajaero said, “N5bn multiplied by 36 states is going to give you N180bn. So if you divide that with the official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, which says that 133 million Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor, and calculate it, you will get about N2,000 each for those who are poor.
“That is the official statistics of the government, but you and I know that the actual figure is more than that. So is that what to celebrate? And then, five trucks or there about, of rice to a state. The poor people of these states cannot get one cup of rice. It will not go around.
“Even if you pick them from the poverty bracket, it will be difficult for them to get one cup of rice. Is that the best we can do? Is that the best approach to governance? So do we look at our people as people we should give one cup of rice and N2,000? Is that palliative?”
He said the government should be serious with governance that served the interest of the people.
“Who are the governors you are giving it to? Are the governors who have not paid minimum wage? Is there any committee to ensure the effective disbursement of that which is very insufficient?
