Subsidy hardship: Cross River cuts workdays to three

Gov Bassey Otu of Cross River has reduced workdays for civil servants in the state from five days to three to cushion the effect of petrol subsidy removal.

The state has joined its counterparts – Kwara, Edo and others states who had earlier taken similar measures to alleviate the suffering unleashed on workers after the federal government scrapped petrol subsidy, causing prices to rise more than three folds.

The Cross River government said it will also pay N10, 000 allowance to each worker in the state for the next six months beginning from September and re-introduce mass transit system for inter-city travel at subsidised rates for all citizens.

Andrea Inyang, aide to the governor on new media disclosed this in a statement posted on Facebook. Gov Otu’s spokesperson, Emmanuel Ogbeche confirmed this to this newspaper.

Lingering hardship

Nigerians have faced severe hardship after President Bola Tinubu declared an end to petrol subsidy during his inaugural address on May 29.

After the declaration, the retail price of petrol rose from N189 to N550. The price further jumped to N617 in July after Nigeria’s Central Bank devalued the naira.

Transport fares have tripled in response to the scrapping of petrol subsidy by the federal government, a situation that has forced several workers to trek to work.

Last week, the Nigeria Labour Congress led workers on a two-day warning strike to force the government to reverse its decision. The government only gave N2 billion as aid to states.