The Organised Labour has slammed President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government.
It described the government as dictatorial over its decision to jettision the Presidential Steering Committee on palliatives among others.
The committee was supposed to work out the palliatives amongst other things to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal that has worsened the living conditions of Nigerians, especially workers.
Speaking on Thursday, the President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Dr Tommy Okon said the federal government failed to consult labour and the committee before announcing the N8,000 cash transfer to 12 million households.
Okon, a member of the sub-committee of the Presidential Steering Committee on Cost of Governance, said President Tinubu should have allowed the committee to submit its report before taking action on palliatives.
He argued that the declaration of a state of emergency on food by the government would have little or no impact until the worsening insecurity in the country was checkmated.
Okon also called on the government to declare a state of emergency on insecurity and address the transportation difficulties facing workers and other Nigerians amid the rising high cost of essential services.
He said “The policy of cash transfer by the federal government is not the best for the economy. President Tinubu should have allowed the fuel subsidy committee to submit its report before taking action on palliatives.
“Why were we (organized Labour) invited to be part of the subsidy removal palliative committee when our opinion will not be considered? I am a member of the sub-committee on cost of governance. I can tell you for free that we have not even met once. We are not happy at all.
“The cash transfer policy is an International Monetary Fund, IMF, and World Bank idea. In fact, it was N5, 000 the IMF and World gave the government as template.
“When the government brought it to our meeting with them, we rejected it. Even if it N20, 000 or more, it can’t solve anything. How can the IMF and the World Bank be borrowing us money and also telling us how to spend it, not even in the productive sector of the economy, but to share it with some people based on the IMF and World Bank’s template?”