Gbajabiamila Calls for Increment of Minimum Wage to Commensurate Fuel subsidy removal

Following the removal of the fuel subsidy, Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi has called for a review of the minimum wage to commensurate the increment of prices of good and service.

The deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector has increased the petroleum pump price to N145 per litre.

Gbajabiamila said: “There has to be a serious review of the minimum wage if you are going to increase the pump price of petrol because we all know everything rests on that.

“Prices are going to skyrocket, from school fees to food, to transportation, to school uniforms and to books. Everything is going to go up because of mono economy. If we are going to do that, it is incumbent upon the government to take seriously the demands of labour.

“Minimum wage needs to be reviewed; we cannot increase the cost of living and keep salaries where it is, they go hand in hand.”

He said: “I was at the stakeholders; meeting with the Vice President Wednesday and other stakeholders before the decision was made.

“The story that was painted, the details, the breakdown and the facts were scary. From what I read and what I saw, if we had continued that way we may not even have a country in two months time.

“Salaries would not have been paid by any state. Faced with that, it puts me in a very difficult situation and serious dilemma as to which way to go. I have always on one hand fought against the removal of fuel subsidy but now, I am confronted with very scary details as to what will happen if they don’t deregulate.

“The consequences will be very bad for me and you, so it is like being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.”

“I believe that if God has given you natural product, the least we should do is to allow the people to benefit from that kind of product,” he said, adding that subsidy had dented the image of the country.

“If subsidy is being abused, all we need to do is to block the holes of abuse and not to punish the whole of Nigerians for the abuse of a few people.

“But having said that, I have always argued, why don’t you build a refinery first if at all you have to remove the subsidy. It is only in Nigeria that subsidy is given a bad name.

“There is subsidy all over the world, in America agriculture is subsidized and in UK transportation is subsidized. It is only in Nigeria that they say subsidy is bad. So, why is it not bad in other countries? That’s what we need to look at.”