Daniel Idonor
02 January 2012, sweetcrude, ABUJA – IN a swift move to avert a looming shutdown of the economy over the removal of fuel subsidy, President Goodluck Jonathan has set up a high-powered committee headed by a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alfa Belgore to meet with organised labour and all other stakeholders with a view to resolving issues that may arise from the removal of the subsidy on petrol.
President Jonathan has similarly appointed Dr. Christopher Kolade as the Chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme Board which is to oversee and ensure the effective and timely implementation of projects to be funded with the savings accruing to the Federal Government from subsidy removal. Major-General Mamman Kontagora (rtd.) will serve as Deputy Chairman of the Board.
The Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme Board will also include two representatives of the National Assembly, two representatives of organised labour, one representative of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), one representative of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, one representative of Nigerian Women Groups, one representative of Nigerian youth, one representative of civil society organisations, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy/Minister of Finance, the Minister of National Planning, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, the Minister of State for Health, the Special Adviser to the President on Technical Matters, and six other reputable individuals from the six geo-political zones in the country, three of whom will be women.
