Anambra civil servants get additional N12k salary, as Soludo rolls out other palliatives

In order to mitigate the impact of the removal of petroleum subsidy, the governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has announced on Monday that approximately 59,000 individuals, including public servants employed by Anambra State and 21 local government areas, will receive an additional N12, 000 per month from September to December 2023.

The gesture, according to Soludo, is in addition to the 10% pay increase that the state has been providing since January 2023 as part of its “foresighted” response to the rate of inflation.

The governor’s press secretary, Christian Aburime, revealed this in a statement that was obtained in Awka on Monday.

He also noted that all Nigerians would face certain difficulties as a result of the long overdue disruptive change, particularly the elimination of the petrol subsidy.

The governor promised that Anambra State will collaborate with the Federal Government’s agenda to guarantee that its citizens benefit as much as possible from the federal programmes, but he did not specifically state whether the state had received its fair share of the palliatives that are allegedly being distributed among the 36 states of the nation.

The governor announced that the state will be give rice to more than 300,000 households in the 326 wards of Anambra in the upcoming weeks, while guaranteeing that the state government will continue to pay the backlog of gratuities and pensions of its pensioners.

“Nigeria is undergoing fundamental re-setting of the macroeconomic framework. The long overdue disruptive change, especially the removal of subsidy on PMS and reduction of distortions in the exchange rate, comes with certain hardships on all the residents of Nigeria,” statement by Soludo read.

“Governments at all levels in Nigeria have shown a keen commitment to ameliorate the consequent short-term effects of the policy change on livelihoods. The President, Bola Tinubu, has rolled out an agenda of palliatives as the response of the Federal Government. We support the FGN agenda and expect to partner with the Federal Government to ensure that Anambra residents benefit maximally from the federal programmes,” it added.

“Ours is a government on the foundation of the All Progressives Grand Alliance. We are progressives, and the welfare of the ordinary Nigerians, especially the poor and vulnerable, remains our primary focus.

“In our 2024 budget, we shall roll out a more comprehensive agenda to address the medium to longer-term issues that will help to smoothen the path for all our residents, and ensure that everyone shares in our broad agenda of building a livable and prosperous homeland.”

“In the meantime and over the remaining four months of the year (September – December 2023) as well as within the context of our 2023 budget framework, we are rolling out a few immediate and medium-term measures.”