The organised labour has kicked against the move by the federal government as President Bola Tinubu shared N180bn palliatives with 36 governors and the FCT, to curb the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.
According to The Punch reports, under the auspices of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the workers said that the governors could not be trusted with such a project.
The union argued that the governors would favour politicians rather than the poor Nigerians that needed the N180bn largess disbursed to the state government to the Nigerian citizens.
Mr Chris Onyeka, the Assistant National Secretary-General of the NLC, wondered why the FG was releasing money to governors, many of whom he said had refused to pay the minimum wage.
He dismissed the palliative fund as paltry, noting that it would not get to the intended beneficiaries.
“The money will not get to the people, let them share the money as they want but what the NLC agreed with them were certain milestones. The NLC will close its eyes to what the Federal Government is trying to give to the governors.
“To us as far as we are concerned, NLC will still stick to the milestones that we have agreed on, we will insist that those things are discussed and implemented to the letter.’’
On his part, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the Federal Government was about sharing N2,000 and a cup of rice to poor people across the country.
He also stated that the governors could not be trusted, as most of them were not paying minimum wage, adding that no committee was established to ensure the successful implementation of the initiative.
This development is coming after President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidies during his inauguration on 29 May.
Following the hardship provoked by the decision across the country, the Nigeria Labour union called out its members for a nationwide strike and protest on 2 August. They protested against the hike in the price of petrol.
The strike was, however, suspended after the government held a meeting with the two unions.
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