Buhari feels the pain of Nigerians —Osinbajo

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said on Monday President Muhmmadu Buhari was very much concerned about the welfare of Nigerians and would not renege on his promise to improve their living conditions.

Osinbajo, who stated this while fielding question from State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the president felt the pain of Nigerians, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hence his decision to provide more palliatives to cushion the effects of the pandemic on the citizens.

He said: “We fully understand that we must have a way of ensuring that the pain that people feel, the economic difficulty that people are going through, that we are able to address those as much as possible.

“Which is why even in our discussions with labour, one of the issues we are looking at include, what sort of palliatives are possible for the Nigerian people. In what ways can we reduce the burden and how quickly can we do so.

“One of those things we have looked at is how to reduce the cost of gas and petrol. How do we ensure that people are able to go about their businesses buying cheaper energy?

“One of the ways is the strategies is the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). And the government has committed to do the conversion. First of all, we are starting with commercial vehicles. Most commercial transporters will have the capacity to use both gas and petrol.”