In a bid to reduce the effects of the removal of fuel subsidy, the Edo state government has announced that the work days for civil servants in the state have been reduced to three days as opposed to five days a week.
Governor Godwin Obaseki said his government shared the pains of his people and assured them that his government will stand with them “in these very challenging times”. He also said his administration would do all within its power to make better the sufferings of residents of the state in a statement released on the 7th of June.
The Governor noted that the state is working on creating more virtual classes to enable a work/learn-from-home situation, in order to reduce the cost of commuting by parents, teachers and pupils to school.
The statement released said:
“In the wake of fuel subsidy removal by the federal government, fuel prices have increased astronomically leading to a rise in prices of goods and services and overall cost of living. As a proactive government, we have since taken the step to increase the minimum wage paid to workers in Edo state from the approved N30,000 to N40,000, the highest in the country today.
We want to assure you that we will continue to pay this amount, while we hope to increase it even further if more allocation accrues to our state from the federal government in view of the expected savings occasioned by the removal of the fuel subsidy.
We know the hardship that has been caused by this policy which has radically increased the cost of transportation, eating deep into the wages of workers in the state. Therefore, the Edo state government is hereby reducing the number of work days that civil and public servants will have to commute to their workplaces from five days a week to three days a week till further notice. Workers will now work from home two days every week.”
“The Edo SUBEB will provide details on this initiative in the coming days. To lower the rising cost of energy on our people, we will continue to work with the electricity companies in the state to improve power supply to homes and businesses. Similarly, fibre optic connections are being made available to help our people work remotely, thereby reducing their cost of transportation.”