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By Nasir Kura
The federal government has ordered immediate payment of February salaries to enable workers travel for Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections, Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, said on Wednesday.
The minister said this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
“On the part of the Federal Government also, we decided that to make it easy for those who will want to go back to vote, salary payment started yesterday (Tuesday) as opposed to the normal 25th of every month. This is just to ease the burden of people who want to go back and cast their vote,’’ he said.
The minister said the council reviewed some of the palliatives put in place by critical stakeholders to help people return to cast their votes.
He said the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) with a membership of about 50,000 had agreed to cushion the effect of the postponement by reducing the pump price of petrol from N145 to 140 from February 21 to February 25, 2019.
He said the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) with about two million members operating in motor parks in all the 774 local governments of the federation had offered to provide discount to travellers.
“This discount is also to encourage voters who would have normally been disenfranchised as a result of INEC’s postponement. This discount is also valid between February 21 and February 25, 2019.
“Arik and Aero airlines have also thrown in their own incentives. Aero contractors have offered 50 percent discount to all travelers who present their Permanent Voters Card (PVC) at the purchasing point.
“Arik will be selling their one way ticket at N16,000 to any destination across the country. This is to support Nigerians looking to travel to cast their vote. The discount is valid between the 18th of February and the 11th of March. All these are aimed at encouraging voters who might have been disenfranchised by the postponement,” he said.
Also speaking, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, said he briefed the council on the latest economic statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) .
He said the economic indices released by the National Bureau of Statistics “are very positive and reassuring by the growth numbers.”
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winfred Oyo-Ita, who spoke on the swearing of eight new permanent secretaries by the president, said their postings would be made public later.
