Removal of Subsidies: FG To Seek World Bank Funds, Offer Workers Palliatives

Vice President Kashim Shettima presided over the first NEC meeting.

The National Economic Council (NEC) has taken action to provide palliatives for workers and vulnerable groups in the nation to lessen the impact of the removal of fuel subsidies.

Following its first NEC meeting on Thursday, presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the Council declared that it would form a committee to determine the specifics of organizing and distributing the palliatives within two weeks.

The committee is made up of the governors of Kebbi, Benue for the North Central, Kaduna for the Northwest, Bauchi for the North East, Cross River for the South-South, Anambra for the South East geopolitical zone, and Oyo State for the South West.

Bala Mohammed, the governor of Bauchi State, who was accompanied by four of his colleagues, told reporters at a briefing that the Council also discussed the possibility of obtaining funding from the World Bank and London partners to implement a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) program for vehicles in the nation as part of measures to lessen the impact of the removal of fuel subsidies.

He claimed that the Council also discussed the organized labor’s request for a consequential adjustment to allowances of N702.9 billion and a minimum of N25 billion per month to mitigate the effects of the removal of the subsidy.

Mohammed pointed out that NEC had received recommendations on the matter of the National Salaries, Income, and Wages Commission to help the situation, even though NEC had made very extensive decisions and considerations regarding the removal of petroleum subsidies and its overall impact on the economy.

The governor of Bauchi also said that the recommendations made by the earlier palliatives committee, which was established and was led by former vice president Yemi Osinbajo, would not be ignored but rather would be incorporated into the ongoing process.