President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said 12m families will get N8,000 over a period of six months to ameliorate the hardships faced by Nigerians as a result of subsidy removal. In a letter to the House of Representatives read by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas during plenary on Tuesday, Tinubu said it was support to enable poor and vulnerable Nigerians cope with the cost of meeting basic needs. The letter was for approval of additional financing for the national social safety net programme scaled up by the National Assembly. He said this would have a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals.
In order to guarantee the credibility of the process, he said digital transfers would be made directly to beneficiaries accounts.
The program was initially proposed by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, but the Ninth Senate could not review the request because the session was already in its last days.
The president removed the subsidy on petrol days after assuming office six weeks ago, cutting a policy that has served for decades as a crucial pillar of economic support for millions of citizens.
He argued that the subsidy regime was benefitting affluent citizens more than their poor compatriots. But social analysts argued that was not a tenable ground to plunge millions further into poverty.
Whereas the N8,000 is equivalent to only 14.5 litres of petrol, some families are nonetheless looking forward to it, hoping it would help cover some expenses as the country’s N30,000 (roughly $37) minimum wage becomes increasingly insufficient for most workers.
