During Wednesday’s plenary session, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu submitted a letter to the House of Representatives, requesting a sum of N500 billion for palliative measures aimed at mitigating the impact of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirits (PMS), commonly known as petrol.
Additionally, Tinubu proposed an amendment to the 2022 supplementary appropriation Act, enabling the Federal Government (FG) to obtain the funds from the N819.5 billion allocated in the 2022 supplementary Appropriation Act.
The letter, which was read by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, reads: “I write to request the approval of the House of Representatives for the amendment of the 2022 supplementary appropriation act in accordance with the attached.
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“The request has become necessary in other to among other things source for funds necessary to provide palliatives to mitigate the effect of the recent removal of fuel subsidy on Nigerians.
“Thus the sum of N500 billion only has been extracted from the 2022 supplementary appropriation act of N819.536 billion for the provision of palliatives to Nigerians to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal. I hope that the House of Representatives will consider the request.”
The removal of fuel subsidy resulted in soaring costs of goods and services, igniting calls for the government to initiate palliative measures to mitigate the impact.
The government has been working with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to develop a framework that will address the concerns. The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) had asked for an increment in the minimum wage, from the current N30,000 per month to N200,000 per month.
The TUC has called for tax holidays to be granted to employees, both in the public and private sectors, whose monthly earnings are below N200,000 or $500. They also emphasized the need to introduce a petrol allowance for individuals earning between N200,000 to N500,000 or $500 to $1,200 annually, whichever amount is higher.
Additionally, the TUC demanded that the Nigerian government provide mass transit vehicles for all segments of the population and undertake an immediate review of the National Health Insurance Scheme to extend coverage to a larger number of Nigerians.
In the medium term, the labor union urged the government to fulfill its previous commitment by implementing the nationwide deployment of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
Tinubu did not explain how the money will be disbursed; raising concern that it will be looted. Against this backdrop, many are calling for the money to be used to subsidize fuel, that way it will benefit all Nigerians.
Socio-Economic Rights & Accountability Project (SERAP), on Wednesday, asked the federal government to publish details of how it intends to use the fund.
“Following his request to the House of Representatives seeking approval to spend N500 billion as Palliative for Subsidy Removal, we urge President Tinubu to immediately publish the details of the spending including names of the beneficiaries,” it said.