FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ORDERS PAYMENT OF FEBRUARY SALARIES TO WORKERS

The Federal Government of Nigeria has directed immediate payment of February salaries to workers to financially enable those of them wishing to travel to vote in Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly election to do so.

The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, announced this in Abuja while briefing journalists at the end of a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The minister said the payment of salaries to federal workers commenced on Tuesday, to ease the burden off civil servants planning to travel for the elections.

It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), postponed the Presidential and National Assembly elections billed for February 16 to February 23.

According to reports, many Nigerians who had travelled to their voting destinations were forced to return to their locations and there have been ruminations among the populace that many would  not return to vote.

Mohammed said FEC discussed the issue and reviewed some of the palliatives put in place to help people return to cast their votes.

He said the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), which controlled 80 per cent of the petroleum sector distribution, had agreed to cushion the effect of the postponement by reducing the pump price of petrol from N145 to 140 from February 21 to 25th.”

The minister said the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), with motor parks in all the 774 local government areas across the country, had offered to provide discount to travellers using their motor parks.

The Information Minister also said as part of the incentives, two airlines, Aero contractors and Arik Air, were offering discounted fares to passengers.

He said while Aero was offering a 50 per cent discount to all travellers who present their Permanent Voters Card (PVC), at point of purchase, Arik had slashed the price of their tickets to N16,000 to all destinations across the country from February 18 to March 11, 2019.