The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has urged the Federal Government to prioritise slashing the cost of governance, noting that it will help save more money for the government to tackle other needs.
The TUC President, Festus Osifo, gave the advice while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday.
Osifo added that the money saved from the removal of fuel subsidy should be harnessed to take care of the most vulnerable Nigerians.
“The government has told us that they are going to save a massive amount of money when the subsidy is removed. So, part of this money should also go to taking care of Nigerians, especially the vulnerable,” he said.
Osifo urged the government to be proactive in exploring opportunities to generate more revenue for the nation.
“Crude oil is being sold in dollars (USD); when they were repatriating the money before now, the exchange rate was around N460 to a dollar. But today, it is going to be about N700, which means that there would be much more naira available to the government,” he said.
“More importantly is that, as a government, they must be creative. As a government, they must be innovative; they must put on their thinking cap and be able to grow the revenue of the country.”
He recalled that the present administration had in their campaign promised an increase in revenue generation and the growth of the country, adding that it was also their responsibility to think through and make it work.
The TUC leader expressed optimism that the labour union would not lose grip of their demands to the Federal Government, saying, “We know we cannot get 100 percent of the demands (in the) negotiation; we know our minimum set point.
“If the cost of governance is reduced, they would be able to save some money from that and if they do all these other things we have said, we believe that funds will be available.”
He added that the labour union and FG would continue the negotiations on June 26.