Osita Chidoka, a former minister of aviation, has urged President Bola Tinubu to scrap bank charges and lower contributions to pension plans.

In an interview with Channels Television on Sunday, Chidoka made this call.

He claims that the actions will ease Nigerians' suffering caused by the elimination of the petrol subsidy.

Recall that on May 29, Tinubu stated the federal government would no longer be paying petrol subsidies.

Petrol costs about ₦500 per litre now as a result of the announcement.

However, the former minister criticized sudden end of the subsidy on petrol, claiming that the federal government took too long to consider how to lessen the effect of the policy on Nigerians.

Chidoka said, “When he took a decision to remove subsidy and he removed fuel subsidy and the fuel prices rose by over ₦500 in a day, what are the immediate measures that can be taken to make sure there is more cash in the pockets of people who go to work every day?

“If I was thinking with him, I would have said immediately — remove the charges for bank transfers in Nigeria, the ₦26 and the ₦56, cut it immediately.

“That money goes to the banks and they are just enriching themselves; or make a flat rate of once a month, you can charge ₦100 for IT support. So, that puts more money in the hands of people.

“Second, our pension scheme has accumulated a lot of money, and that pension scheme now requires people to pay 12 percent of their salaries from the employers’ side.

“So, I think you can reduce the amount the people are contributing for a one-year period or six months to allow more money.

“That way, immediately from the next month’s salary, another ₦10,000, ₦5,000 as the case may be, enters into the pocket of the people who go to work every day.

“They are able to pay their transport fare because they need to go to work tomorrow.”