By Elizabeth Joel
Abuja
Residents of Kabusa village in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have described President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s proposed N8,000 palliative to 12 million Nigerians to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal on petroleum as a fraud.
A cross-section of the respondents, who spoke with Blueprint in Abuja on Thursday, alleged that the arrangement is an upgraded means of stealing public funds in the name of cushioning the effects of the fuel subsidy removal.
Speaking on the issue, Mr. James John, said; “They’re borrowing money to share with Nigerians as palliatives. Nigeria has been in a mess and will continue to be if we keep having the same people doing things in the same direction”.
Another resident, Martha Haruna, who faulted the proposed palliatives, said: “When former President Muhammadu Buhari came to power he said he would be sharing N5, 000 to all without any student or family getting any penny but rather their family got loaded, and now they are promising them another 8,000.”
Hamid Salisu, another resident, queried the rationale behind the proposed N8, 000, saying N500 billion will purchase approximately 8,000 60-seater buses.
“Instead of giving 8k to 12m poor families, why not distribute these buses across the country to ease the cost of transportation? You would also be creating jobs in the process.
“And each state and the FCT will get 216 buses, which will drastically reduce transport fares and be used for 10 years without giving issues as regards repairs. Is this not better than 8k per household for six months which implementation cannot be guaranteed?”
