Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, on Wednesday, rolled out palliatives to lessen the impact of the removal of the fuel subsidy removal on Ekiti residents including students, workers, and pensioners.
The Chairman of the state Palliatives Committee and Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Akintunde Oyebode, who said a decision like fuel subsidy removal would naturally come with short-term pains, said the palliatives would stand in the gap.
Oyebode, who spoke in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, while reporting on the outcome of the committee comprising government representatives and other stakeholders including the organised labour, said the palliatives covered formal and informal sectors, as well as elderly citizens.
The commissioner said the governor had approved the committee’s recommendations for immediate implementation,
He listed the interventions to include “payment of one year’s leave bonus for state and local government workers” and as well, “payment of one month’s pension arrears for state and local government pensioners.”
Others, he said, included “implementation of consequential adjustment for workers on GL. 14 to GL. 17 for state and local governments” and “implementation of 90 per cent CONHESS and 100 per cent Hazard Allowance for health workers at the local governments.”
“Implementation of salary parity for clinical staff of the Hospitals’ Management Board, implementation of financial benefits of 2020 and 2021 promotions for state and local government workers.
“Immediate payment of one-month subvention arrears to tertiary institutions and provision of free shuttle buses for workers and students to ease transportation to/from work and school respectively,” he added.
Oyebode said that the governor also approved additional interventions designed in addition to the already mentioned interventions.
These, he said, included “payment of N5,000 as a conditional cash transfer to 10,000 households from August till December 2023 with emphasis on our aged people and inclusion of 10,000 persons in the ‘Ulera Wa’ Health Insurance programme.”
The commissioner added that the governor had also approved “a food distribution programme that will commence this month and the distribution of inputs to farmers as well as financial support to small businesses and our informal sector.”
Oyebode said that the interventions were possible due to the additional revenues earned by the three tiers of government based on the fiscal benefits of the difficult decisions taken by President Bola Tinubu, which he said were already being felt.
He reiterated the Oyebanji-led government’s commitment to the people of Ekiti State, saying, “The increased revenues from the removal of fuel subsidy will lead to better service delivery from our government.
“Mr. Governor remains irrevocably committed to his vision of “Shared Prosperity” which is being driven by the government’s six-point agenda,” and under his leadership, “we will continue to advance our journey towards prosperity,” he said.
The organised labour, including Chairmen, Nigeria Labour Congress, Kolapo Olatunde; Trade Union Congress, Sola Adigun and Joint Negotiation Council, Oluwafemi Ajoloko, lauded Oyebanji for his love for workers and the entire citizens of the state.
The labour leaders described the governor’s action as unprecedented in the annals of labour-government relationship in Nigeria, stressing that Oyebanji assented to all the proposals brought before him without hesitation.
