President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, said his administration will review its earlier plan to distribute monthly cash grants of N8,000 to 12 million households for six months as part of efforts to assuage the hardship occasioned by fuel subsidy removal.
This followed public criticisms of the policy, with the organised labour saying it falls short of the level of intervention required to ease the pains of vulnerable Nigerians.
“The President has directed that the N8,000 conditional cash transfer programme envisaged to bring succour to most vulnerable households be reviewed immediately,” a statement signed by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, read late Tuesday.
Alake said the new directive was in “deference to the views expressed by Nigerians against it.”
The Senate had on Thursday approved the request of President Tinubu to borrow $800m loan from the World Bank.
It also amended the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act to accommodate the provision for N500bn for palliatives to mitigate the effect of petrol subsidy removal on poor Nigerians.
According to Tinubu, the $800m loan will be used to cater for the welfare of the vulnerable and poor households in the country under the National Safety Net programme, while the sum of N8,000 will be transferred monthly to the bank accounts of 12 million poor and low-income households for six months.
However, the organised labour and some economists faulted the plan.
In his response, the President explained that the cash programme was not the only item in his relief package for Nigerians.
