Subsidy: Oyebanji gives committee one week to finalise palliative proposals

The Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has directed a three-man committee to meet with the leadership of the organised labour to finalise proposals for palliative measures aimed at cushioning the effects of the subsidy removal on the citizens.

The committee and the labour leaders were given one week to report back to the governor, who would then make a formal pronouncement on the options that were considered implementable.

The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Yinka Oyebode, in a statement on Friday, said government alone could not decide on palliative measures, hence the involvement of the leadership of organised labour.

According to Oyebode, Oyebanji said the palliative measures to be put in place would also take care of pensioners and people in the informal sector of the economy.

He noted that the governor, at the meeting with the leadership of the organised labour, also commended the leadership of labour unions in the state as well as the citizens for their understanding, stressing that the government was determined to ease the pains occasioned by the subsidy removal.

In attendance at the meeting were the State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Olatunde Kolapo; the Chairman, Trade Union Congress, Sola Adigun; and the Chairman of the Joint Negotiating Committee, Babatope Ajoloko, and other officials of the unions.

The government’s three-man committee included the state Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Akin Oyebode (Chairman), the Head of Service, Bamidele Agbede and the Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Oyebanji Filani.