Moses John and Abdulrahman Zakariyau,
Abuja
The Niger State House of Assembly has urged the state government to reduce the number of working days for civil servants to cushion the effect of further hike in the price of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had, during his inauguration, announced withdrawal of fuel subsidy after which the price jumped by 300% to 540/litre.
And barely two months after, precisely Monday, another price hike was announced with the NNPCL putting the new price at N617/litre, a development that got many Nigerians angry.
Niger Assembly
To cushion the effect, the Niger House of Assembly asked the state government to reduce the number of days workers come to office in a week.
The Assembly made the call in a resolution following a matter of urgent public importance raised by Mr Nasir Umar, member representing Paiko Constituency during plenary Wednesday in Minna.
Speaker of the House, Mr Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, while reading the resolution, called on government to as a matter of urgency; reduce numbers of working days for civil servants.
He also urged the executive arm to put in place necessary measures that would cushion the hardship experienced by residents of the state as result of removal of fuel subsidy.
Earlier, Umar had explained that the removal of fuel subsidy had brought untold hardship on residents especially civil servants.
The lawmaker urged the state government to emulate some states that had come up with measures to alleviate the sufferings of people.
Umar also moved a motion calling on the House to direct the state Ministry for Education and the state Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB) take measures to avert the collapse of UK Bello Memorial Primary School in Paiko.
He said that the one story-building primary school, which comprised of eight classrooms was poorly constructed and was at a verge of collapse.
Umar noted that if nothing was done to avert the impending disaster, the lives of about 2, 300 pupils and 84 teachers were at stake.
He stated that the head teacher of the school had raised several compliant to NSUBEB through the education secretary over the deplorable condition of the building to no avail.
He, however, urged the house to direct the concerned authorities to act with immediate effect in order to avert collapse of the building.(NAN)
COEASU
In a related development, the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has directed her members to go to work twice weekly.
The union, in a statement Wednesday by the president, Dr. Smart Olugbeko, said this will be sustained until federal government yields to her demand of 200 percent increase in salary.
The statement said “The National leadership of our great Union in its extraordinary meeting held on Tuesday, 18th July 2023 had agreed to direct its members to go to work two days weekly until Federal Government yields to its demand of 200 percent increase in salary amidst the difficulty of members to get to work as a result of hike in the price of petrol.
“The implementation of removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government two months ago raised the price of a litre of petrol by 250%. This worsened the inflationary rate on the cost of transportation, food and other essential commodities and impoverished the Nigerian people. Workers, including staff of Colleges of Education, kept faith with Government and chose to endure the untold hardship thinking it would be only for a while as Government promised to roll out palliative measures including significant increase in salaries.
“Alas! While our capabilities to sustain hope were already exhausted, the price of petrol rose further to N650 per litre. Now, the leadership of the Union has been inundated by members’ complaints that they could no longer go to work as a result of hike in the price of petrol and resultant high cost of transportation.
“Against this backdrop, it has become inevitable for the Union to direct members to go to work only two days weekly while an emergency NEC meeting shall be convened to ratify this decision and decide on the specific days of the week members are to go to work.
“The present salary of staff of Colleges of Education was approved in the year 2010-13 years ago! This means we have been on same salary since 2010 while petrol price rose intermittently from N65/N70 in 2010 to N650 in 2023 (tenfold increase). Our salary structure which is subject to renegotiation at 3-year interval has remained static for 13 years, skipping four due renegotiations. It is ludicrous that Government has refused to return to the negotiation table on the welfare package for staff after the Union, prior to the removal of fuel subsidy, had proposed 200% increase in salary as against Government offer of a ridiculous 35% for Chief Lecturers and 23% for other cadres.
“We call on the FG to urgently do the needful because the inevitable action of the Union against this hardship will have devastating effects on the students as it will lead to a prolonged academic calendar – a semester of 16 weeks will become 32 weeks or more; while Teaching Practice exercise of 6 months will become 12 months. We call on His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quickly address the issue of salary adjustment for staff of Colleges of Education. We believe in the capacity of the President to address this problem as he did when he was the Governor of Lagos State where he so generously increased the salaries of staff in the then Lagos State-owned Colleges of Education that they became the highest paid nationwide”.
IPMAN on reduced sale
Also feeling the heat, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said the price hike was threatening the survival of their businesses.
Chairman of IPMAN Enugu Depot Community, Mr Chinedu Anyaso, said average sales had dropped by about 50 percent from May 30 to date.
Anyaso, whose depot serves Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu states, said marketers were facing an existential challenge as low profits as a result of reduced sales, was affecting their abilities to meet their operational cost and obligation with banks.
He said if the negative development was not urgently curtailed, many operators would shut down, and that this could result in the collapse of the downstream sector and the numerous job loss.
According to him, marketers were worse affected by this policy of subsidy removal, profitability has reduced because average sales have reduced by about 50 per cent.
“Most marketers are finding it difficult to remain in business because the increasing cost of operation, payment of workers and meeting bank obligations is becoming difficult.
“We appeal to the Federal Government to save downstream operations from collapsing by working on reduction in pump prices,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Premium Motor Spirit now sells for between N630 and N640 in Awka, the capital of Anambra and its environ.
PDP speaks
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the hike as extortionate.
The opposition party said “it clearly shows that the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration is a provocative exhibition of extreme insensitivity and callousness towards Nigerians.”
In a statement Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the party cautioned that the increase was worsening the already suffocating economic situation under the ruling party.
“It is appalling that instead of seeking ways to stabilize and grow the economy, the APC administration has abandoned the welfare of Nigerians which is the primary purpose of Government under Section 14 (2) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and left the citizens to the vagaries of market forces and exploitative cabal; a disposition that is characteristic of a government that is not accountable to the people.
“The PDP is alarmed that with its ill-thought out, badly planned and hurriedly-executed polices, the APC is running Nigeria’s economy aground with the value of naira rapidly plummeting, businesses and production shutting down; citizens losing their means of livelihood, commercial and social activities crippled, with millions of families no longer able to afford their daily needs as the costs of food, medication and other essential goods and services continue to skyrocket.
“The present dire situation comes as a consequence of APC’s insensitivity, seething corruption, scandalous cluelessness and lack of capacity to effectively steady and manage the nation’s economy.
“Indeed, this is not the nation that Nigerians yearned for after the abysmal, harrowing and inhuman eight years of the Buhari-led APC administration as the situation has currently gone from a frightening bad to a terrifying worse with no hope in sight.
“The PDP dismisses APC’s insensitive and lame argument of market forces and comparison of price of fuel in Nigeria with those of other countries which have functional infrastructure, variety of affordable alternative transportation system and sources of energy; strong currency and where citizens earn far higher than what obtains in Nigeria.
“Our Party insists that the N617 per liter of fuel is excessive, unacceptable and cannot be justified under any guise. This is especially given the economic potentials and prospects within our country.
“Even with the removal of subsidy on petroleum products, the PDP maintains that with a deft, transparent and innovative management of resources, economic potentials, national comparative advantage and expanded value chain in refining capacity, fuel should not sell for more than N150 per liter in Nigeria,” it said.
