Why I grounded my private jet – Senator gives details

Senator Orji Kalu of Abia North has announced that he will refrain from using his private jet until the federal government resolves the issue of salary differentials for workers in the country.

Kalu made this statement in a brief video shared on Instagram and Facebook last Friday.

The location of his statement is uncertain, but it seems that he was addressing a question from an unidentified individual.

“Honestly, I have stopped using my private jet since 2 August. And I want to maintain that until we are able to sort out the differentials on the workers in Nigeria and in West Africa – their salaries, because buying fuel and the rest of them. I don’t need to explain to you,” he said.

In his inaugural speech in May 2023, President Bola Tinubu declared an end to petrol subsidies, a policy that has seen the price of petrol balloon by over 500 per cent since then.

The policy has worsened the country’s economic woes, pushed up transportation prices and inflation rates to unprecedented levels, and triggered a cost-of-living crisis.

Dissatisfied with the government’s economic policies the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress began with a protest before declaring an indefinite strike to seek a better welfare package for workers.

The federal government had also set up a committee to review a new salary structure for workers following the expiration of the N30,000 minimum wage.

After months of disagreements between the Organised Labour and the federal government representative in the minimum wage committee, the labour leaders and President Tinubu in July agreed on N70,000 as the minimum wage.

Following the agreement, the minimum wage bill was signed into law by the president after it was approved by the National Assembly.

Despite the new law, workers across the country have not yet received the new minimum wage, as the committee set up by the federal government on the consequential adjustment has yet to submit its reports.

Several states in the federation, including Akwa Ibom and Delta, said they are waiting for a memo on consequential adjustment from the federal government to commence implementation of the new minimum wage.

But while waiting for the release of the memo on consequential adjustment, the federal government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, again, increased petrol price from N590 to between N950 and N1,019, further deepening the cost of living crisis.

In the video, Mr Kalu, who portrays himself as sympathetic to the workers, said he would not fly his private jet until the issue is resolved.

“For now, I have grounded the private jet to do some other business for oil companies, and I want to maintain it that way; don’t ask me again. There are commercial planes that are on schedule, and I will use them to the glory of God,” he said.