The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has urged the Federal Government to implement a 300 per cent wage increment for workers.

The General Secretary, Peters Adeyemi, who spoke yesterday at the quadrennial delegate conference and election of the Research and Projects Trade Group council, explained that the request comes on the back of spiraling prices of goods and services that have moved up by more than 400 per cent.

He observed: “It will be unjustifiable to do wage awards now that will not take into effect the quantum of the percentage of the increase that has been brought to bear on Nigerian workers. The quantum of whatever the government is supposed to give to Nigerian workers must be commensurate with the quantum of the job or the lead in the prices of commodities, goods and services. If not, we will just be deceiving ourselves. As we speak today, the cost of running everything has gone up. We are paying more for electricity. We are paying more for transport. The rents have gone haywire.”

Adeyemi insisted that a national salary increment is necessary now to prevent workers from dying on the streets, stating: “This government must increase salary. There are no two ways about it. I think it is nonsensical when people say the government spends so much money paying salaries. You have to pay so much for salaries. There are some states where they don’t have any important factories, or any other means of improving their economy than the workers.”

He urged President Bola Tinubu to investigate the immediate past Muhammadu Buhari government on funds appropriated for rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries.

“There is no way we can rely on imported petrol and hope that the price will not be prohibitive. Therefore, the government must revive the ailing refineries. Then it is also important for the government to probe into all the mowing that was allocated to the rehabilitation of the refineries by the Buhari administration. For the eight years that he spent as President, the refineries did not work up to one year cumulatively. No country will allow such a huge amount of money to go without proving how it was spent, and then go further to prosecute anyone that is found culpable”, the scribe added.

He also demanded a probe of the palliative funds to states by the Federal Government.