An ally of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to remove the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmoud.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Chidoka said INEC is a disappointment as an agency, adding that he is totally disappointed in the INEC Chairman and other executives of the electoral body.
He urged the President to remove Yakubu just as he suspended the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
“It would have been totally unimportant if he faced what I considered the critical issues about Nigerians making their choices,” Chidoka said.
“For the kind of uproar that the election caused, the way he went after the CBN governor is the way I think he should have set up a panel to look into INEC.
“INEC is a disappointment as an agency. If I had my way, I would remove the INEC chairman immediately.”
He also urged Tinubu to remove charges on bank transfers and facilitate the reduction in the monthly contributions to pension schemes by workers as a measure to cushion the hardship caused by the removal of fuel subsidy on Nigerians.
“We need to think beyond politics. When he (Tinubu) took a decision to remove fuel subsidy and the fuel price rose from 100 and something naira to 500 and something naira in a day,” Chidoka said.
“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?
“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 think the Federal Government can reduce the amount the people are contributing for a one-year period or six months to allow more money.”
According to Chidoka, that way, immediately from the next month’s salary, another N10,000, or N5,000, as the case may be, enters into the pockets of the people who go to work every day.
He said workers will be able to pay their transportation fare because they need to go to work tomorrow.
The ex-minister also said the minimum wage in the country needs to rise from the current rate of N30,000 to reflect the economic realities and inflationary shocks on the ground.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) also recommended palliatives for workers and vulnerable groups to ameliorate the harsh effects of fuel subsidy removal.
The TUC in particular demanded that the minimum wage be increased from its current N30,000 to N200,000 before the end of June 2023, with consequential adjustments to the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), like feeding, transport, and housing, among others.
It demanded tax holidays for employees both in the public and private sectors that earn less than N200,000 or $500 monthly, insisting that a petrol allowance should be introduced for those earning between N200,000 and N500,000 or $500 to $1,200 yearly, whichever is higher.
It demanded that the Nigerian government provide mass transit vehicles for all categories of the populace and put in place an immediate review of the National Health Insurance Scheme to cover more Nigerians.
