Due To Pressure, President Tinubu Orders A Review Of The N8,000 Palliative Fund
In an effort to mitigate the consequences of the loss of gasoline subsidies, President Bola Tinubu has ordered a review of his administration’s plan to provide a monthly N8,000 transfer to 12 million of the poorest households in the nation for six months.
The strategy was detailed in a letter that was read aloud last Thursday on the House of Representatives’ floor in response to the previous Muhammadu Buhari administration’s request for a $800 million loan for a social safety net program.
Dele Alake, the President’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications, and Strategy, emphasized in a statement on Tuesday that the relief package put together by Tinubu did not simply include the cash program.
The President, according to Alake, promised to always put Nigerians at the center of his policies and initiatives.
He claims that Tinubu gave the order “to review immediately the N8,000 conditional cash transfer programmed envisaged to bring succor to most vulnerable households.”
The statement was followed by the words, “This is in deference to the views expressed by Nigerians against it.”
The President also directed that the entirety of the government’s palliative package be unveiled to Nigerians, while ordering the immediate release of fertilisers and grains to approximately 50 million farmers and households respectively in all the 36 states and the FCT.
Parts of the statement reads;
“You will agree with me that it has become part of the culture of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to constantly dialogue with Nigerians who voted him into office. The President covenanted with Nigerians that their welfare and security will be topmost in the Renewed Hope Agenda of his government.
“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 transfer to vulnerable households mostly affected by the painful but necessary decision to remove subsidy from petrol.
“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:-
“1. 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.
“2. That the whole gamut of palliative package of government be unveiled to Nigerians.
“3. Immediate release of fertilisers and grains to approximately 50 million farmers and households respectively in all the 36 states and the FCT.
“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”.
Recall that the President took a similar decision after listening to complaints from the business community/stakeholders about burdensome taxes, particularly multiplicity of taxes they are made to experience. This warranted the signing of four (4) Executive Orders cancelling some classes of taxes, while suspending the implementation dates of others.
