Subsidy removal: Gov Fintiri approves N10,000, other palliatives for workers, pensioners

The Adamawa State Government would pay N10,000 each month as a petrol subsidy removal stipend to all employees and pensioners on its payroll.

Details of the state palliative package, which was announced in Yola on Wednesday, indicate that the special allowance regime will run for six months.

Buses would be provided to transport employees between their homes and the state secretariat in Jimeta, where the majority of the ministries are located, according to Dr. Edgar Amos Sunday, the chairman of the committee formed by the state government to determine the package, who made the announcement to newsmen at the Government House in Yola.

In addition to serving as the governor’s chief of staff, Sunday announced that comparable buses will be available to offer discounted inter-local government transportation to the general public.

The chief of staff also disclosed that Governor Fintiri had approved the full adoption of the federal minimum wage for employees of local governments, starting with the pay period commencing in August of the following year.

He added that the state governor had also given his approval for the purchase of 20 trucks of rice and 70 trucks of corn to be distributed to residents of the state at discounted prices.

“The government will also purchase 50 trucks of fertiliser specifically for workers at a subsidised rate,” Sunday added.

He clarified that the steps were included in the suggestions made by the special committee set up to lessen the impact of subsidy termination.

The palliative package’s impact According to a statement made by the Adamawa State Government, Dauda Aliyu, the state chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), organized labor would continue to defend the rights of the workers it represents.

According to Platinum Times Nigeria, while employees of the state government have been paid the N32,000 minimum wage (which will increase to N42,000 for the next six months due to the new palliative), those employed by the various local government councils have only been paid what was owed to them prior to the minimum wage regime.