Abia NLC To Monitor Subsidy Re-Investment Programme

The Abia Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), says it will monitor the implementation of the Federal Government’s subsidy reinvestment programme in the state.

The acting Chairman of the congress, Mr Christopher Ebeniro, stated this in an interview with newsmen in Umuahia on Thursday.

It will be recalled that the Abia Government recently announced the sectors of the economy in which it will plough its share of the subsidy savings from the Federal Government.

Ebeniro warned that it would no longer be business as usual as the labour would ensure that the funds were used to uplift the living standard of the people.

“It’s easy to say something; another thing is to put it into practice. It is not today that we have heard how judiciously funds like that will be utilised and managed but at the end you find out that it’s like the windfall for the powers that be at the state level.”

He said that the suspension of the strike against fuel subsidy removal was based on a social contract between NLC and the Nigerian masses, noting that any slip in that oversight function might spell doom for all concerned.

“It is of a fact that the increase in the pump price of petroleum has short-changed a lot of Nigerian masses and any palliative measure that is being propounded you have to prove that it is there not just saying it.

“The result must reflect on the standard of living of the Nigerian masses.”

Ebeniro, therefore, urged workers in the state to exhibit high standard of discipline and hard work, assuring them that their interests were being protected at all levels.