President Bola Tinubu has planned to transfer N8,000 which is 10 dollars to 12 million poor households in Nigeria for a period of six months.
In Nigeria, a poor household is around seven, eight, nine, ten and more people, however Federal government want to transfer 8000 (10 dollars) while the House of Assembly would get 70,000,000,000 billion naira which is equivalent to 90,000,000.00 million US dollars.
The amount according to the President’s letter sent on July 12 and read by the Speaker, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas, was meant to support the working conditions of new members.
According to the Majority Leader, this was for the provision of palliatives to Nigerians to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Kalu, has lauded President Tinubu’s decision, noting that the palliative would solve the challenges of the legislature.
Meanwhile, in a letter the President wrote to the House of Representatives regarding the 800 million dollars loan request of the Buhari administration for the social safety net programme.
The president is asking for approval of the House to secure the loan.
According to the President, the money transfer to poor households would have a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals.
For credibility, the President said the money will be transferred to the households digitally.
Few weeks before the end of his tenure, the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari, had written to the Senate seeking approval to take a loan to the tune of $800 million from the World Bank to cushion the effects of subsidy removal.
Former Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had stated that the disbursement of the grant was in light of the planned subsidy removal in June 2023.
President Tinubu did not waste time in removing the petrol subsidy, announcing its end during his inaugural speech on May 29.
