President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo has slammed the President Tinubu led federal government, saying it has questions to answer as regards the gains of subsidy removal.
It would be recalled that President Bola Tinubu at his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, announced the removal of petrol subsidy, culminating in the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) raising petrol price from N189 per litre to N568 per litre.
With the NNPC reported to have spent N4.39 trillion ($9.7 billion) on a petrol subsidy in 2022, Tinubu had opined that the removal the subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS) would reduce expenses and help the government to save more from revenue generated.
Osifo during an interview on AriseTV on Wednesday, asked where the money saved since removing the subsidy is.
He further queried that since the government announced N1 trillion has been saved, there is no reason to continue borrowing money, adding that FG should simply deploy part of the funds on Nigerians.
“The President and commander in chief on its own came and said the country has saved N1 trillion. The Federal government went everywhere to announce that if subsidy is removed, it’s going to save substantial money,” Osifo said.
“And so, we don’t expect them to go everywhere and start borrowing money. They told us they are going to save money. So where is the money that you have saved and how have they deployed this money?”
His comment is coming a day after TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) announced that workers’ unions will embark on an indefinite strike on October 3, 2023.
Osifo said the unions have exhausted their arsenals and have been left with no choice but to proceed on the indefinite strike next month.
