Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove fuel subsidy on his first day in office, describing it as a “hasty and thoughtless” decision that has caused immense hardship for Nigerians.
In a statement posted on his X handle on Sunday, July 13, Atiku said: “The President, on his first day in office, announced the removal of petrol subsidy without consultations or a plan to mitigate its impact on the poor and vulnerable. That hasty and, frankly, thoughtless decision set the stage for the punishing economic crisis Nigerians are facing today.”
Atiku accused the Tinubu administration of failing to keep its promise to ease the effects of the subsidy removal by paying temporary wage awards to federal civil servants. “In a bid to manage the self-inflicted crisis, the administration promised to pay a wage award to federal civil servants as a temporary cushion pending the conclusion of negotiations on a new national minimum wage,” he said. “That promise, like many others under this government, has become a broken covenant.”
He pointed out that it took the federal government ten months to negotiate a new minimum wage, during which the wage award was supposed to serve as a stopgap. “By implication, the federal government owes 10 months of wage award arrears to federal workers. Yet, only six months have been paid – and that too after a series of unfulfilled assurances and avoidable delays,” he added.
Atiku noted that “each worker is owed N35,000 monthly for four months, amounting to N140,000 per person,” and expressed concern about the government’s treatment of Nigerian workers. “While some state governments have shown empathy and compassion, the federal government has demonstrated callous indifference and utter disdain for the plight of workers.”
He also condemned the arrest of labour activist Andrew Uche Emelieze, who was taken into custody for attempting to stage a peaceful protest over the unpaid wage awards. “Instead of engaging in dialogue or fulfilling its promises, the government has now resorted to tyranny and suppression of free speech,” Atiku said. “His only ‘crime’ was speaking up for workers abandoned by the state.”
Calling for Emelieze’s immediate release, Atiku stated: “His continued detention is an affront to democracy, a slap in the face of every Nigerian worker, and a chilling reminder of the authoritarian drift of the Tinubu administration.”
He concluded with a firm message to the government, saying: “Let it be known: Nigerian workers will not be silenced, intimidated, or forgotten. The economic hardship is real, the hunger is biting, and the government has a duty to act, not repress.”
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