Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has announced the reduction of working days for civil servants to three days a week to ease the challenges currently faced by the people due to the removal of fuel subsidy.
During his inaugural speech after he was sworn in, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy.
Tinubu’s announcement saw the return of fuel queues and Nigerians forced to buy a litre of petrol between N550 and N650.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Obaseki assures that his government will stand with the people of Edo State and do everything possible to reduce their sufferings due to the subsidy removal.
“In the wake of fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government, fuel prices have increased astronomically leading to a rise in prices of goods and services and overall cost of living.
“The Edo State Government shares the pains of our people and wants to assure everyone that we are standing with them in these very challenging times.
“We want to reassure our people that we will do all within our powers as a sub-national government to reduce the pains and ameliorate the sufferings our people are currently facing due to the current realities.
“We want to assure you that we will continue to pay this amount, while we hope to increase it even further if more allocation accrues to our State from the Federal Government in view of the expected savings occasioned by the removal of the fuel subsidy.
“We know the hardship that has been caused by this policy which has radically increased the cost of transportation, eating deep into the wages of workers in the State. Therefore, the Edo State Government is hereby reducing the number of work days that civil and public servants will have to commute to their workplaces from five days a week to three days a week till further notice. Workers will now work from home two days every week.
“Similarly, for teachers and parents, their commuting to school will be reduced as the government is working on deepening the EdoBEST@Home initiative to create more virtual classrooms, thereby reducing the cost of commuting on parents, teachers and pupils. The Edo SUBEB will provide details on this initiative in the coming days.”
