The Oyo State Government announced a 50% cut in the fee for the Pace Setter Transport Service on Wednesday to mitigate the impact of the elimination of fuel subsidies on the general population.
The state Head of Service, Olubunmi Oni, made the announcement while hosting the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, led by its Chairman, Kayode Martins, at the secretariat in Agodi, Ibadan, saying that despite the limited resources available, the government would continue to make life more bearable for the teeming masses, particularly workers.
She said, “The government has started deploying more buses through the transport service to take people from one place to another with 50 percentage reduction as part of the efforts to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal on the general public.”
Oni assured the NLC that the current administration under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde would continue to prioritise workers’ welfare to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy.
The HoS stressed that Makinde had started working on the new minimum wage for all workers in the state, adding that, the government was looking at all possible ways to reduce the suffering of the downtrodden.
She said, “We are lucky in this state that we have a listening governor. We have a governor that sees civil service as his constituency. With this, the state will be far better than any other state in Nigeria on minimum wage.”
Earlier, the NLC Chairman disclosed that for the first time, the government was calling the labour union to review the salary upward.
He then appreciated the government for prioritising workers’ welfare, and promised that the union would not relent to ensure that the minimum wage is done on time as well as palliative measures for all workers in the state.