To lessen the impact of the elimination of the petrol subsidy, President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday ordered the urgent evaluation of the proposed N8,000 to 12 million households in Nigeria for six months.
Dele Alake, the President’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications, and Strategy, released a statement on behalf of Tinubu, who also directed that the entire federal government’s palliative package be made public to Nigerians.
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“In the last few days, the conventional and new media platforms have become awash with stories of the government intending to embark on conditional cash transfers to vulnerable households, mostly affected by the painful but necessary decision to remove subsidy from petrol,” the statement read.
“The story has been widely reported that the Federal Government is proposing to give 12 million households from the poorest of the poor N8,000 monthly for a period of six months as government palliative to reduce the discomfort being experienced by Nigerians consequent upon subsidy removal.
“A lot of ill-informed imputations have been read into the programme by not a few naysayers. The Administration believes in the maxim that when there is prohibition, there must be provision. Since subsidy, the hydra-headed monster threatening to kill the economy, has been stopped, government has emplaced a broad spectrum of reliefs to bring help to Nigerians.
“While it should be noted that cash programme is not the only item in the whole gamut of relief package of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a listening leader who has vowed to always put Nigerians at the heart of his policy and programme, the President has directed as follows:
“That the N8,000 conditional cash transfer programmed envisaged to bring succour to most vulnerable households be reviewed immediately. This is in deference to the views expressed by Nigerians against it.”
Alake further noted, “The President further assures Nigerians that the N500 billion approved by parliament to cushion the pain occasioned by the end of subsidy regime will be judiciously utilised. The beneficiaries of the reliefs shall be Nigerians irrespective of their ethnic, religious or political affiliation.
“President Bola Tinubu has promised to always prioritize the wellbeing of Nigerians and he is irrevocably committed to the vow. A number of decisions taken so far by this Administration have buttressed this stance.”