Former Abia State Governor cum senator, Orji Uzor Kalu has lamented the hardship and pains citizens in the country are going through as a result of President Bola Tinubu’s policies.

Uzor Kalu, who represents Abia North at the senate, voiced out his feelings on Tuesday during a press briefing at the national assembly.

He said the president needs to deploy urgent means of succour to ameliorate the sufferings Nigerians are going through.

While acknowledging the fuel subsidy removal by the president as a bold and necessary step, the Abia senator lamented the economic hardship it has brought on all Nigerians and the need for the impact to be properly and urgently managed.

“The hardship is real; people are suffering. We manage about 10,000 workers in our group, and ensuring they are paid in this difficult time is a challenge,” Kalu said.

According to him, given the situation of the economy due to the rising cost of things, his organization has been compelled to introduce some cost-saving measures.

“If I fly anywhere, maintaining and fuelling a private plane costs between $10,000 and $20,000. I had to tell senior members of my company to fly commercially so we could save money to restructure and support our workers across Nigeria and West Africa.

Everyone must be able to eat in this time of hardship,” Kalu added.

He opined that the president has demonstrated strong political will by initiating economic reforms that no other leader has dared to carry out in the last sixty years.

The senator, however, called for quicker relief measures.

He said, “No president in the last 60 years has dared to do what President Tinubu is doing to reform the economy. But we need to bring succour to Nigerians immediately.

“He has to act today, not tomorrow, because the situation is dire. No president elected by the people would want his citizens to suffer.”

Kalu also suggested that the President might consider bringing back the fuel subsidy regime.

He said, “I’m not in the economic team; I have not seen the president or anyone to ask, but this is what (the return of the subsidy) the president has to sit with his economic team to discuss. The decisions he has taken are what no president in the 60 years of the republic has been able to take.”

Orji Uzor Kalu joined the APC in November 2016.

He won re-election as senator for the zone in the 2023 general elections.