Following public outcry President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the immediate review of the N8, 000 conditional cash transfer programme by the federal government to bring succour to most vulnerable households to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.
The president is however silent on the new amount to be shared among the 12 million poor households.
Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy Mr Dele Alake, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, said the president’s decision was in deference to the views expressed by Nigerians against it.
He said the president directed that the whole gamut of the federal government’s palliative package be unveiled to Nigerians.
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:-
“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.
“That the whole gamut of palliative package of government be unveiled to Nigerians.
“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.
“You will 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.
“In addition, the President has also set up a Tax Reform/Fiscal Policy Committee to bring up recommendations that will engender a wholesome fiscal environment for the country and remove anti-business barriers.
“I wish to assure Nigerians that President Tinubu will continue to be a listening leader whose ears will not be dull to the views expressed by the citizenry. The President believes government exists to cater for the interest of the people and he has demonstrated this so clearly.”
NLC kicks
But the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to withdraw from the subsidy removal palliatives committee put in place by federal government.
NLC President Comrade Joe Ajaero said it is unfortunate that government is undermining herself.
According to him, by putting in place a committee which is working out palliatives to cushion the effect of subsidy removal, it is wrong for government to keep increasing the price of PMS.
He said Labour may consider reviewing her membership in that committee and take her destiny in her hand on the situation, adding that Congress cannot be part of a committee that is structure to fail.
“It is unconscionable that a government that has foisted so much hardship on the people within nearly two months of coming into office will make a proposal that clearly rewards the rich in public office to the detriment of the poor. What this means is that is that the government is seeking ways of robbing the very poor Nigerians so that the rich can become richer.
“There is no other way to explain the proposal to pay a misery sum of N8, 000 Naira to each of the mysterious poorest 12 million Households for six months which amounts to N48, 000 and pay just 469 National Legislators N70billion or about N149million each while the Judiciary that has about 72 Appeal Court Judges, 33 National Industrial Court Judges, 75 Federal High Court Judges and 21 Supreme Court Judges and a total of about 201 Judges, receive a total of N35billion or N174m each. If these other two arms are projected to receive this, what members of the Executive Council will receive is better left to the imagination of Nigerians perhaps, the balance N150billion will go to them.
“These proposals are not just unacceptable to Nigerian workers but are also dictatorial, thus undemocratic. It is not a product of social dialogue which would have produced collectively negotiated outcomes by critical national stakeholders.
“We had thought that this government, given the circumstances of its emergence, ought to have been a stickler to all the preachments of the fine tenets of democracy which would have shored up its image and begin to build legitimacy for itself. Unfortunately, it seems to be in a hurry to abandon the remaining pretensions to democracy that the previous administration left behind.
“Furthermore, the actions of the federal government shows that it does not have trust and confidence in the very Presidential Committee that it set up to take a comprehensive look at the consequences of the Petroleum Product price hike and make recommendations on the way forward to ameliorate its negative impacts upon the citizenry. What this means is that the government may actually not be interested in the work of the Committee and may have used it as a window to pretend to Nigerians that it is taking steps towards dealing with the consequences of its policies.
“We do not understand why the federal government would seek to undermine itself as its action suggests. Why not wait for the Committee to sit and come up with the needed recommendations which would then guide government’s fiscal and monetary policies? Seeking to borrow and going to the NASS for an approval means that it has already taken decisions on what it wants to do and has a budget, thus is in need to borrow to fund these activities. Like they will tell you; it is a fait accompli.
“We reiterate that we do not have confidence in how the data for the never changing 12m poorest households was generated neither do we have confidence in the mechanisms being pursued for the distribution of the cash transfers.”
He said “if the government does not want to stop these fortuitous actions that it is pursuing in the name of palliatives, we will be forced to constructively review our engagement with the government on this vexatious issue and take matters in our own hands.”
