Following the removal of fuel subsidy, the Labour union, has called on the Federal Government to cut the cost of governance to meet the demand of the union
The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, stated this when he was featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday.
Osifo appealed to the federal government to prioritise cutting down the cost of governance in the country, Naija News learnt.
The TUC boss was speaking against the backdrop of the Labour Union’s negotiations with the federal government on how to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu.
He said the Union is very aware that not all its demands from the government would be met, but it won’t lose grip of its negotiation with the government.
Osifi while making reference to one of the campaign promises of the current administration said in their campaign promised an increase in revenue generation and the growth of the country.
He submitted that “The government has told us that they are going to save a massive amount of money when the subsidy is removed. So, part of this money should also go to taking care of Nigerians, especially the vulnerable.
“Crude oil is being sold in dollars (USD); when they were repatriating the money before now, the exchange rate was around N460 to a dollar. But today, it is going to be about N700, which means that there would be much more naira available to the government.
“More importantly is that, as a government, they must be creative. As a government, they must be innovative; they must put on their thinking cap and be able to grow the revenue of the country.
“We know we cannot get 100 per cent of the demands (in the) negotiation; we know our minimum set point.
“If the cost of governance is reduced, they would be able to save some money from that and if they do all these other things we have said, we believe that funds will be available.”
The TUC boss said the labour union and FG would continue the negotiations on June 26 and said it was sure that once all the suggestions are done, there would be more revenue to cater for vulnerable Nigerians.
