Following the increase in the price of gasoline at the pump, some federal and state civil servants have urged both governments to raise workers’ salaries in order to alleviate their hardships.
The workers, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria in separate interviews on Friday in Katsina, said the appeal was necessary because the cost of goods and transportation had also risen dramatically.
Abdullahi Balarabe, a Federal Government employee in Katsina, said that as fuel prices rose, so did the cost of goods.
Balarabe claimed that what he used to buy for N200 was now being sold for between N300 and N400, posing a serious challenge to low-wage civil servants.
“As you know, despite the increase in the pump price of fuel and the increase in the prices of foodstuffs and other goods, our salaries have remained the same.
“Before the current increase in prices, the salaries of many of us could not even sustain us to the next salary day. Some of us spend our salaries on payment of credits,” he said.
Mr Edwin Michael, another federal civil servant, said he had to park his car and walk to work because some of the fuel stations charged more than N184 per litre.
“We are appealing to the Federal Government to do everything possible to increase workers salaries to cover the deficit in our monthly take-home.
“If I now go to the market with my salary I don’t think it will be enough for me to buy what I used to buy before the current increase in the prices of goods,“ he said.
Malam Adamu Ibrahim, a state civil servant, also stated that the situation was unfathomable and that only God could intervene.
He claimed that his monthly salary as an office assistant was insufficient.
Ibrahim also urged the state government to raise the pay of its employees, particularly those in lower-level positions.
NAN discovered that traders had raised the prices of foodstuffs and other goods during a visit to the Katsina Central Market.
One of the traders, Malam Isma’il Garba, explained that the increase in goods prices was caused by an increase in transportation costs.
NAN reports that a litre of fuel now sells for between N184 and N220 in petrol stations in the state.
(NAN)
