Subsidy: Oyebanji unfolds palliatives for Ekiti pensioners, workers, residents

In order to alleviate the impact of the elimination of gasoline subsidies on Ekiti people, including students, workers, and retirees, Ekiti State Governor Mr. Biodun Oyebanji carried out palliatives on Wednesday.

The loss of fuel subsidies will inevitably result in short-term pain, according to Mr. Akintunde Oyebode, Chairman of the state Palliatives Committee and Commissioner for Finance, but he added that the palliatives would fill the void.

While reporting on the findings of the committee made up of government representatives and other stakeholders, including organized labor, Oyebode said the palliatives encompassed both the formal and informal sectors as well as elderly people. He spoke in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

The commissioner stated that the governor had approved the committee’s recommendations for immediate implementation.

In addition to “payment of one month’s pension arrears for state and local government retirees,” he also highlighted “payment of one year’s leave bonus for state and local government workers” as initiatives.

He added that there were still more, such as “application of consequential adjustment for workers on GL. 14 to GL. 17 for state and local governments” and “implementation of 90% CONHESS and 100% Hazard Allowance for health workers at the local governments.”

Implementation of financial benefits of promotions for state and local government employees in 2020 and 2021, as well as salary parity for clinical personnel of the Hospitals Management Board.

In order to make it easier for workers and students to get to and from work and school, he also called for the “immediate payment of one-month subvention arrears to higher institutions.”

In addition to the actions already listed, Oyebode claimed that the governor had approved other interventions.

He listed some of them, saying that they included “payment of N5,000 as a conditional cash transfer to 10,000 households from August to December 2023 with emphasis on our senior people and inclusion of 10,000 persons in the ‘Ulera Wa’ Health Insurance scheme.”

The commissioner continued by saying that the governor had also given the go-ahead for “a food distribution program that will begin this month, the distribution of inputs to farmers, as well as financial help for small enterprises and our informal sector.”

The initiatives, according to Oyebode, were made possible by the extra money the three levels of government received as a result of President Bola Tinubu’s difficult decisions, which he claimed were already having a positive fiscal impact.

“The additional revenues from the removal of fuel subsidy would lead to greater service delivery from our government,” he said, reiterating the Oyebanji-led administration’s commitment to the residents of Ekiti State.

Under his leadership, “we will continue to accelerate our road towards prosperity,” he stated. “Mr. Governor is firmly dedicated to his vision of “Shared Prosperity” which is being pushed by the government’s six-point program.”

The leaders of organized labor, such as Kolapo Olatunde, Chair of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Sola Adigun, Chair of the Trade Union Congress, and Oluwafemi Ajoloko, Chair of the Joint Negotiation Council, praised Oyebanji for his devotion to the state’s workers and all of its residents.

The governor’s actions, according to the labor leaders, were unparalleled in Nigeria’s history of labor-government ties. They also emphasized that Oyebanji enthusiastically agreed to all of the recommendations put forth to him.