Osita Chidoka, a former minister of aviation and senior member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has urged President Bola Tinubu to act quickly by eliminating bank fees and lowering employee monthly contributions to pension plans in order to lessen the impact of the removal of fuel subsidies on the general public.
On Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Chidoka, a supporter of former vice president Atiku Abubakar, claimed that the minimum wage should increase from its current level of N30,000 to reflect the current economic climate and inflationary shocks.
He claims that even though the Tinubu administration stopped providing subsidies on its first day in office, it was left with a $3 billion debt that had to be paid to fuel importers.
“We need to think beyond politics. When he (Tinubu) took a decision to remove subsidy and he removed fuel subsidy and the fuel prices rose by 100 and something naira to 500 and something naira in a day. What are the immediate measures that can be taken to make sure there is more cash in the pockets of people who go to work every day?” he queried.
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“If I was thinking with him, I would have said immediately: remove the charges for bank transfers in Nigeria, the N26 and the N56, cut it immediately. That money goes to the banks and they are just enriching themselves… or make a flat rate of once a month, you can charge N100 for IT (Information Technology) support. So, that puts more money in the hands of people.
“Second one is that our pension scheme has accumulated a lot of money and that pension scheme now requires people to pay 12% of their salaries from the employers’ side.
“So, I’m think you can reduce the amount the people are contributing for a one-year period or six months to allow more money.
“That way, immediately from the next month salary, another N10,000, N5,000 as the case may be, enters into the pocket of the people who goes to work every day. They are able to pay their transport fare because they need to go to work tomorrow. We can’t wait till when you take a decision (on ministerial appointments) to ameliorate the suffering,” he said.
“The past is already facing him (Tinubu) because there is about $3bn owed to the fuel importers. The four major companies importing fuel to Nigeria has a debt of over $3bn and they haven’t been given enough crude to pay for those debt. So, he (Tinubu) has to pay the backlog of those debts,” Chidoka stated.
He claimed that during the Muhammadu Buhari government, 18 military and paramilitary organisations were led by individuals from a particular region of the nation, violating the Federal Character Principle “brutally in the past eight years.”
Regarding the distribution of the newly appointed service heads across the six geopolitical zones during Tinubu’s last four weeks in power, Chidoka recognised that Tinubu had been fair in his selections, but the topic is unimportant.
He said the “trauma suffered during Buhari’s tenure” was the basis for the elation and responses that followed the appointments, which were dispersed across the six geopolitical zones.
“I find it objectionable for people who did not say a word when this country was brutally harangued by a government to now talk about issues of appointments and sensitivity in four weeks. I feel that that is a violation of decency.”
“I think they’ve been fair in trying to (spread) appointments across the country. I think it’s being largely fair but it’s unimportant,” Chidoka stated.
Chidoka also requested that the President remove the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, just as he suspended the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
“It would have been completely irrelevant if he had addressed what I considered the critical issues concerning Nigerians making their decisions.” “For the kind of uproar that the election caused, I think he should have set up a panel to investigate INEC,” he said.
