Sadiq Yusuf, the Secretary General of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN), has noted that the fuel subsidy is a big fraud and that the marketers are with the federal government on subsidy removal as Kaduna State Government and leaders of the organized labor rose from their meeting on Monday regarding the removal of fuel subsidies.
during the same time, a palliative committee had been established to lessen the impact of the elimination of fuel subsidies, according to an announcement made during a joint meeting between the state administration and organized labor.
The interaction was positive and an excellent way to start for the new Uba Sani administration, according to the state governor, senator Uba Sani, and the labor leaders who talked to journalists after the meeting on Monday.
As a result of the meeting, according to Governor Sani, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was forced to allow the removal of the fuel subsidy because the current budget does not include a provision for it beginning on June 1. As a result, the state government and labor leaders must come up with a palliative to lessen the impact on the general public.
“As a Senator for the past four years, I am aware that the current budget does not have a subsidy provision as of the first of June. Because the subsidy is not even included in the budget, the current President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is forced to approve its elimination, which further complicates the situation.The most crucial factor, however, and the reason I quickly called the labor leaders present this morning, is that I am aware of the crisis that the masses and downtrodden will experience as a result of this sudden event. Of course, it is our duty as leaders to prepare significant and reliable palliative arrangements.
“And I think we can’t accomplish it without the help and participation of the labor leaders, which is why they are here. We had a very serious conversation during which we all spoke our opinions, and I’m extremely pleased with their contributions.
“As a result, we have made the rapid decision to form a committee made up of government representatives and labor leaders to devise a sort of arrangement where we will support the underprivileged with palliatives.
Therefore, the labor leaders are closest to the people, aware of their problems, and knowledgeable about the type of palliative we need to develop.
The Governor stated, “We cannot decide all of these issues alone as a government, which is why we decided that whatever is in the best interests of workers, we must include the labor leaders.”
The Secretary General of IPMAN, Sadiq Yusuf, also spoke and claimed that the entire gasoline subsidy program is a massive fraud.
“As you may know, the North Western states are included in the territory served by more than 4,000 filling stations owned by the IPMAN Kaduna state chapter.
“We are representing this entire structure with the knowledge that holding a protest in a tense state like Kaduna is not beneficial. And we truly commend the current governor, Senator Uba Sani, for his candor and appreciation of the gravity of this chronic problem that has persisted for decades.At the IPMAN level, we are aware of the complications surrounding the subsidy payment. Just now, we informed the Governor that the Federal Government of Nigeria spends over N13.7 trillion annually on subsidy payments. And in 2012, the Federal Government established a committee and discovered a $6 billion scam in subsidy payment that had been going on for more than two years.
Therefore, we are claiming that, in our opinion, the entire subsidy is a huge deception. In order to lessen the suffering of the oppressed, we are working with the government and trying to educate and urge it to create palliative quickly.
“We feel confident that the state government, working with our capable leader, Hon. Abdulfatah Murtala, would quickly recognize the benefits of providing palliative care to the poor. With His Excellency’s profound understanding, he gave the order to immediately form and go to work a palliative care committee.
“We genuinely appreciate his kindness. We think that the elimination of subsidies will bring instant relief to the people of Kaduna State,” he stated.
Both Comrade Ayuba Magaji Suleiman and Comrade Abdullahi Danfulani, the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), expressed pleasure with the engagement with the state administration in their respective speeches. However, they emphasized that their different national authorities hold the last say regarding the scheduled industrial action.
