Mohammed Shosanya
The House of Representatives has implored the federal government to as a matter of urgency, implement palliative measures to mitigate the effects of fuel subsidy removal on Nigerian citizens.
The resolution of the House follows the adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Sani Madaki, (APC, Kano) on Wednesday.
The House noted that on Monday 29 May 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his inaugural speech, announcedthe removal of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy.
It also noted that as a result of the subsidy removal, the official pump price of petrol skyrocketed from the initial N195 per litre to a whopping N480–N577 per litre as the prices varied between states.
It said:”Concerned that the implication of over 200 per cent price adjustment in fuel prices is that nearly all prices of goods and services have drastically increased”.
The House expressed concern that the sudden fuel subsidy removal has left millions of Nigerians terrified, thus causing untold hardship as Nigerians grapple with the challenges of meeting up with, not only the high cost of petrol but also the consequent increase in the prices of goods and services.
The House claims that in response to the resulting financial strain of the subsidy removal on public workers, some proactive state governments introduced temporary measures to alleviate the situation by reducing work days from five to three days per week for the state-employed workers pending when other sustainable palliatives can be provided.
According to the House, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress recently suspended a planned strike over the removal of fuel subsidy in the hopes that the federal government would address its adverse effects on workers.
“Further aware of a Presidential directive to put palliative measures in place to ameliorate the impact of subsidy removal on Nigerians.Worried that the Federal Government is yet to provide palliative measures to mitigate the impact of the subsidy removal on federal government workers”,the House said.
It was also worried that since the removal of the subsidy, several protests have been recorded as citizens accuse the government of being insensitive to their needs.
The House also emphasized the need to put in place measures to protect the rights of citizens and prioritize the provision of palliatives to mitigate the challenges that have arisen from the fuel subsidy removal and ensure a more sustainable and inclusive economic framework for the benefit of Nigerians;
