Joe Ajaero, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), provided more information on organized labor’s private meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja last Wednesday as nationwide demonstrations against the rising cost of living erupted.
Ajaero, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, claimed that the President tried to lower the cost of government by, among other things, reducing the fleet of presidential vehicles.
Asked if the labour leaders demanded government officials must also tighten their proverbial belts, Ajaero said that line of questioning led to Tinubu’s rationale for his staff size which has been a source of criticism.
According to the NLC president, Tinubu argued that rather than subscribe to complaints over hiring numerous Senior Advisers (SAs) and “SAs to SAs”, the unionists should consider the hires in the light of job creation.
“He (Tinubu) took his own case for example. He told us that if you come to his fleet of cars, that it was large and he made efforts to reduce it and he was told that it’s a security issue,” Ajaero recounted.
“He equally went further to say that he prefers to use his own private jet and they told him no, it’s a security issue, he must use the government jet. And he went further to say, even himself, that he’s using only a two-bedroom flat.
“That he’s trying as much as possible to tighten his belt and he will try as much as possible to talk to his people working with him. So, I don’t know what that means.”