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By Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has said it will meet with the organised labou on how best to address the removal of petrol subsidy.
Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had announced in November 2021, that the Federal Government would remove fuel subsidy in 2022 and replace them with a N5000 per month transportation grant to poor Nigerians.
The announcement had stirred up reactions among Nigerians, with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) threatening to embark on a strike action if the government goes ahead with the proposed plan.
But speaking with journalists at the end of the NGF’s meeting on Thursday, Ekiti State Governor and chairman of the forum, Kayode Fayemi, said the 36 states governors met and discussed issues of national importance including the removal of petrol subsidy and the electoral act amendment bill.
“We discussed the issue around petroleum subsidy and concluded to engage the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress.
“We will engage them on how best to address this issue without causing any disaffection but with a view to salvaging the Nigerian economy for the Nigerian people at the end of the day.
“So, we shall be engaging the NLC as sub-national leaders and with a view to ensuring that the outcome of our engagement will also be fed into the national discourse,” he said.
On the recommendation of the National Economic Council (NEC) that petrol should be sold for N302 per litre, Fayemi said the matter was not a decision of the governors but the exclusive responsibility of the Federal Government.
He added that though it was the responsibility of NEC, the governors were contributing to the debate.
Fayemi also commended the Senate for accelerating the removal of the contentious clauses in the electoral act amendment bill.
He expressed hope that the House of Representatives would follow suit so that the revised bill could be returned to the president for assent on time.
According to him, this will enable various institutions, particularly the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to proceed with its responsibilities towards elections in 2022 and 2023.
He also said the governors received a presentation from the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) on ease of doing business.
“The presentation elaborated on the need to step up the reforms towards improving the investments and business climate at the sub-national level.
“Governors also reviewed the recently launched National Development Plan 2021 to 2025.
“This is with a view to ensuring that the National Development Plan is aligned to individual state development plans that have been produced or in the process of being produced to ensure synergy between the development efforts by the federal as well as state governments,” Fayemi added.