*As TMSG Tackles PDP Governors Over Tinubu
*TSF Hails Federal Government's Move To Check Food Shortage
There different groups at the weekend backed initiatives and interventions of President Bola Tinubu's administration to reposition the country on the path of progress.
Their commendations were contained in three separate press statements
The Democratic Front (TDF) in a statement signed by its Chairman Danjuma Muhammad and Secretary Wale Adedayo, described the successful intervention of President Bola Tinubu in the long standing crisis over a new national minimum wage as a great relief for Nigerians.
This, it said, was achieved as a result of the President's solid, time-tested negotiation skills.
"We welcome the cheery news of the resolution of the lingering minimum wage crisis and the role played by President Tinubu in breaking the deadlock.
"As many Nigerians may have realized now, it took the intervention of the President to break the impasse between Federal Government officials and that of Organized Labour after the tripartite committee had completed its 6-month assignment without all parties reaching an agreement.
"What better way could anyone describe a situation where the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC and that of the Trade Union Congress TUC gave the President a standing ovation as soon as the deal was sealed.
"This for us is a reflection of the political will to get things done even when confronted with a dead end so President Tinubu deserves credit for staving off a potential Labour crisis which could have impacted negatively on the economy.
"As we all know, the history of faceoffs between Labour and Government is rooted in a series of multi-dimensional trajectory that have impacted negatively on national productivity.
"Whenever we remember in retrospect, the exemplary role President Bola Tinubu played in 2016, as a non state actor, to prevail on the then Ayuba Wabba led NLC to call off an active nation-wide strike over the national minimum wage, our confidence in his ability to successfully break the impasse was never in doubt. And we were indeed proved right.
"So we believe the President deserves to be appreciated for the manner he got the two Labour centres to shift ground from their earlier wage demand to accept the new offer of N70,000, despite its consequences on the recurrent expenditure.
"We also laud the President for his unwavering determination to cushion the effects of subsidy removal by going beyond wage increase to allocating N100 bn for the purchase of CNG buses and CNG conversion kits across Nigeria, as well as also providing N125bn to energise MSMEs.
"The President's intervention measure of N185 bn palliative loans to all state of the federation should equally be appreciated within the same context.
"We however know that some people have been calculating the new minimum wage in dollar terms without considering Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) but we make bold to say, for instance that the naira equivalent of $100 could buy a lot more in Nigeria than what same amount could get in any American city.
"So for us, a new minimum wage which is more than twice the previous one should be viewed from local perspective which obviously Labour acceded to by accepting the President's offer," it added.
The group also urged Organized labour to continue to cooperate with government in order to make ongoing reforms a success.
On its part, the Tinubu Media Group (TMSG) faulted PDP governors, stressing that they are not in a position to advise Tinubu on governance or rate his performance.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo,on Sunday in Abuja, the group described the PDP governors as chichidodos, a mythical bird that hates excreta but feed on worms that live in faeces.
It was reacting to the governors’ comments on the Tinubu administration.
The group noted that the PDP governors statement was down to insincerity and smirks of being arrogantly sanctimonious.
It said "The governors elected on the platform of the PDP are in no position to advice President Bola Tinubu on governance or rate his performance in office because none of them has done anything worthwhile with the improved revenue they had been getting since Tinubu assumed office in the last one year.
"Going through the communique issued by PDP governors on sundry national issues at the end of their meeting in Enugu, we were not surprised that they took pot shots at President Bola Tinubu who has over the years been the nemesis of their party even before his assumption of office.
"But we find it shameful that state governors, with little or no real performance to their names in spite of a quantum leap in public funds allocated to them in over one year, are pointing fingers of blame at the President.
"We consider this as an act of hypocrisy, but we also recognize that they have to play the politics of opposition, which in Nigeria denotes abuse or canvassing false narratives.
"Just like President Tinubu, we acknowledge that the twin policies of fuel subsidy removal and unification of multiple exchange rates as well as high cost of living globally have exacerbated the high cost of living in the country but, it has also led to improved allocations from the federation account to all tiers of government which these governors enjoy.
"Our question for this group of governors is,what have they been doing with the public funds at their disposal to the extent that they themselves have had to raise posers on the ability of subnationals to pay the new minimum wage?
" The Federal government has also been extending support to state governments, regardless of party affiliation, but there are no signs of massive infrastructure projects in many of the states that are commensurate with the funds the governors have been receiving.
"And lest we forget, some of these governors are presiding over oil-producing states which incidentally have the highest number of people living in multidimensional poverty even after years of receiving enormous allocations tied to resources.
"Yet these are governors who chose to "express dismay at the management of the economy" rather than sit down and engage in a sincere peer review mechanism that will enhance performance in their respective States." it said
The TMSG also wondered what the PDP governors meant by the good old days of the former ruling party.
"We found it laughable that members of a party that presided over multiple oil boom eras with little to show for it could engage in a revisionist ploy to hoodwink gullible Nigerians.
"This is a political party which plundered Nigeria’s hard-earned resources and squandered its national patrimony for a period of 16 years and ring-fenced hundreds of state-owned companies and investments through an opaque privatization process.
"It is easy for PDP governors to play the populist card by bringing up price of food items and the pump price of fuel but Nigerians have not forgotten the massive diversion of oil revenue into private foreign bank accounts as well as the deliberate neglect of public infrastructure in the face of huge revenue earnings."
Recalling what Information Minister, Mohammed Idris, told PDP governors sometime in February this year, TMSG listed the many achievements of President Bola Tinubu.
'The President and his administration recognise the unfinished business of revamping our national economy kickstarted by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari,’’ the group referred to the minister as saying.
The Group said that the minister had stated that the government has achieved breakthrough in such programmes that focused on large-scale infrastructure, social welfare, prioritizing the equipping of, and welfare of the military and security agencies, and the reclaiming of Nigeria’s strategic place in the comity of nations.’
He added that Boko Haram and its affiliates, which were on the ascendancy in 2014/2015, have since been decimated, and similar bold gains are now being made with bandits and other criminals.'
"If a 16-year period marked by those harsh realities were the good old days the PDP governors were referencing, then our message to them is, Never again," the pro-Tinubu group added.
The third group, Tinubu Stakeholders Forum (TSF), also commended the Federal Government's Initiative to address food shortage in Nigeria
In a statement signed by its Chairman Ahmad Sajoh and Secretary Afolabi Josiah on Sunday in Abuja, the group said the measures including the dispatch of trailer loads of food supplies to states are a reflection of the administration commitment to the welfare of Nigerians.
"This initiative of dispatching 20 trailer loads of 25kg bags of rice to each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) through state governments underscores the Tinubu administration's commitment to alleviating hardship among the most vulnerable members of society.
"We see the distribution of these rice supplies to the states as a laudable effort to ensure equitable access and support for those in need.
"We at TSF recognise, acknowledge, and support this additional step taken by the government to bolster food security measures and express hope that the subnational governments will ensure that the supplies get to those they are meant for.
"We are encouraged by the knowledge that this effort by the Tinubu administration is not a standalone one as it supplements existing government strategies aimed at enhancing food security nationwide
"So for us, President Bola Tinubu, has demonstrated an unwavering dedication to safeguarding the welfare of all Nigerians, particularly during challenging times, the TSF affirmed.