Subsidy palliative: 12m poor households to get $800m cash

• It’s N8,000 per family for six months
• House okays N500b request by president

As the Federal Government kicks off plans to cushion the effect of the removal of petrol subsidy, it unveiled the proposal to share the $800 million World Bank facility offered to the country for conditional transfers to 12 million poor and vulnerable families.

Each of the families will get N8,000 monthly for six months.

Details of this plan were made available by House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Banjamen Kalu yesterday.

Kalu spoke after the lawmakers approved the arrangement.

The House also approved the reorder of the N819 billion 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act, granting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s request to spend N500 billion of it on palliatives.

The details of the spending have not been made available.

The remaining N319 billion was approved for other uses by the government.

The Senate, which is yet to approve the proposals from President, referred them to its Committee of the Whole for legislative action because the relevant committees that should have worked on them are yet to be constituted.

Tinubu, in a letter of request to the National Assembly, said: “Please note that the Federal Executive Council led by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, approved an additional loan facility to the tune of $800,000,000 to be secured from the World Bank for the National Social Safety Net Programme (the “Programme”) (Copy of FEC Extract attached).

“You may also wish to note that the purpose of the facility is to expand coverage of shock-responsive safety net support for poor and vulnerable Nigerians and to help them cope with the cost of meeting basic needs.

“You may further wish to note that under the conditional cash transfer window of the programme, the Federal Government of Nigeria will transfer the sum of N8,000 per month to 12 million poor and low-income households for six months with a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals.

“In order to guarantee the credibility of the process, digital transfers will be made directly to beneficiaries’ accounts and mobile wallets.

“It is expected that the programme will stimulate economic activity in the informal sector and improve nutrition, health and education outcomes for beneficiary households.

“Given the above, I wish to invite the House of Representatives to kindly grant approval for the additional loan facility of $800,000,000.00 to be secured from the World Bank for the National Social Safety Net Programme.”

Kalu said while N500 billion is meant for palliatives, the additional N319 billion was approved for other purposes.

According to him, N185.236 billion was okayed for the Ministry of Works and Housing to alleviate the impact of last year’s floods on roads in the six geo-political zones.

A total of N19.2 billion was approved for the Ministry of Agriculture to ameliorate the damage done to farmlands by severe flooding last year.

Also, N35 billion was set aside for the National Judicial Council and N10 billion for Federal Capital Territory Administration for critical projects.

The sum of N70 billion was also approved for the working conditions of new National Assembly members.

The Deputy Speaker said: “We took the decision because of the current pains that everybody complains about as a result of the bold step taken by the President to remove subsidy, but not to be insensitive to the yearnings of the Nigerian people.

“We are here to let you know that there are various components to that bill. It did not speak about one component. The entire money which is about N819 billion was not only for palliatives.

“The palliatives component of the bill is N500 billion which is to cushion the impact of oil subsidy removal because from what we understood, Mr. President believes that we can delay gratification for better gain tomorrow.

“We suffer the impact of the subsidy now and put our country on auto-pilot and begin to enjoy the gains of the removal of petrol subsidy.

“It is better we feel the pains now and that is what we are feeling and the N500 billion is meant to make a social and economic impact on the lives of Nigerians and that is what the parliament did. We have done our bit and I am sure that Senators will also do their bit.

“The approved funds for the different components are domiciled in the ministries, but the greater aspect for palliatives is with the Ministry of Finance.

“The major part of what we did today (yesterday) is to ensure that we help Nigerians who, as a result of the removal of subsidy, are feeling the impact.”

Although he did not speak on the register that will be used to distribute the money, it was learnt that the register collated by the Nigerian Social Investment Authority in conjunction with the World Bank, will likely be used to distribute the palliatives cash to the poor.

NANS seeks fee reduction

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) called for a reduction in tuition by tertiary institutions.

NANS said that would help to cushion the effects of petrol subsidy removal on students.

The students’ body also said that as laudable as the Students Loan Scheme signed into law by Tinubu was, it should not be a springboard for a hike in tuition.

NANS Coordinator, North Central Zone, Shedrack Anzaku, said this in Abuja yesterday.

He said that the association frowns at the development where a lot of public tertiary institutions have decided to increase school fees without considering the hardship and difficulties Nigerians are going through.