The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, on Tuesday, approved the reduction in the number of workdays for civil and public servants in the state from five to three per week.

 In a statement issued in Benin City, the governor said the measure was part of efforts to ameliorate the sufferings currently faced by the people following the rise in prices of goods and services occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal.

The Kwara State government had on Monday adopted the same measure to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal on the people of the state.

Obaseki 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.

 “The Edo State government shares the pains of our people and wants to assure everyone that we are standing with them in these very challenging times.

“We want to reassure our people that we will do all within our powers as a sub-national government to reduce the pains and ameliorate the sufferings our people are currently facing due to the current realities.

“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.

“We hope to increase it even further if more allocation accrues to our state from the Federal Government in view of the expected savings from the removal of the fuel subsidy.

“We know the hardship that has been caused by this policy which has increased the cost of transportation and eaten 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 to three days a week till further notice.

“Workers will now work from home two days every week.

“Similarly, for teachers and parents, their commuting to school will be reduced as the government is working on deepening the EdoBEST@Home initiative to create more virtual classrooms, thereby, reducing the cost of commuting on parents, teachers, and pupils.

“The Edo SUBEB will provide details on this initiative in the coming days.”

Source; Ripples Nigeria