Tinubu orders review of N8,000 palliative for vulnerable Nigerians

The Nigeria’s President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has ordered review of the N8,000 conditional cash transfer programmed envisaged to bring succour to most vulnerable households with  immediate effect, adding that this is in deference to the views expressed by Nigerians against it.

Penpushing reports that Special Adviser to the President (Special Duties, Communications and Strategy), Dele Alake made this known in a statement noting that 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 statement added that 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.

Penpushing further reports that Alake said lot of ill-informed imputations have been read into the programme by not a few naysayers,stressing that the administration believes in the maxim that when there is prohibition, there must be provision,explaining that 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.

The statement disclosed that in same vein, the President also ordered that the  whole gamut of palliative package of government be unveiled to Nigerians,as well as immediate  release of fertilisers and grains to approximately 50 million farmers and households respectively in all the 36 states and the FederalCapitalTerritory(FCT).

Penpushing also reports that Alake said 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, and that 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’, Alake wrote.

“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’, he added.

“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”, Alake stated.