FG Provides ₦570bn Grants to States to Combat Hardship

The FG’s release of ₦570bn in grants to states aims to address ongoing hardship and hunger. Read about the distribution and expected benefits.

As a response to the widespread outcry against hunger and suffering in Nigeria, the Federal Government has announced that it disbursed ₦570bn across all 36 states. This move aims at providing additional support for improving livelihoods among citizens within these states.

During his speech on Sunday, President Bola Tinubu revealed that the Federal Government accumulated a total fiscal revenue of ₦9.1tn in the first half of 2024, which is considerably higher than what was earned by the previous administration.

The President announced that over N570 billion has been dispensed to the 36 states for enhancing livelihood assistance towards their residents. Further, as many as 600,000 nano-businesses have already received our nano-grants and an additional count of 400,000 is estimated to receive them soon.

The President clarified that Nigeria has experienced a decrease in its debt load, as the income generated from servicing debts fell from 97% in 2023 to 68% by 2024.

Without any negative repercussions on their programs, he stated that the nation has successfully paid off approximately $5 billion in valid foreign exchange debts.

The President announced that the reduction of debt has granted greater financial independence to the country, thereby enabling higher expenditure on crucial social amenities like healthcare and education.

Although Nigeria is rich in both oil and gas, the current administration inherited a country that solely relied on oil while overlooking its natural gas resources. Additionally, fuel subsidies were provided despite this neglect of other energy sources.

He informed his administration’s investment in Compressed Natural Gas, saying so.

As Nigerians, we have the good fortune of being endowed with abundant oil and gas resources. However, upon our arrival onto the scene, it was evident that our nation had relied solely on petrol derived from crude oil while forsaking its potential to utilize natural gas as an economic energy source. In addition to this disregard for alternate energies, we were expending valuable foreign currency in order to cover both payments and subsidies associated with petroleum usage.

Tinubu stated that in order to tackle this issue, they initiated the Compressed Natural Gas program with a view of powering their transportation industry and reducing expenses. Through this initiative, it is expected that more than N2tn would be saved every month which had previously been utilized for importing PMS and AGO; available funds could then be redirected towards investment in healthcare as well as education.

On Sunday’s broadcast, Tinubu stated that his government was prepared to heed and tackle the grievances of demonstrators participating in the countrywide protest initiated on August 1st, 2024.

According to the President, the rise in revenue during the first six months of the year can be attributed to measures taken towards preventing losses, implementing automation and finding innovative ways of funding – all achieved without imposing extra expenses on citizens.

According to him, the non-oil industry’s productivity is on a steady incline and has hit unprecedented highs by exploiting the prospects created by today’s economic climate.

“Our government has made significant progress in the past 14 months towards rebuilding a strong economic foundation that will lead us into a future of prosperity and abundance,” he stated.

Thanks to our measures in plugging leakages, implementing automation and innovative funding mobilization that does not burden the populace, aggregate government revenues have more than doubled. In H1 2024 alone, we reached over N9.1tn compared to H1 2023 on the fiscal front.

Tinubu stated that the non-oil sector is experiencing a gradual increase in productivity, achieving unprecedented levels and making use of opportunities presented by the current economic environment.

According to him, his leadership will provide one million kits at extremely low or no cost to commercial vehicles used for transportation of people and goods. These types of vehicles currently account for 80% consumption of imported petrol and diesel.

Tinubu revealed that in collaboration with the private sector, we have begun distributing conversion kits and establishing conversion centers throughout the country. Our CNG initiative is anticipated to cut transportation expenses by around 60% while also assisting in mitigating inflation.

Although licensed individuals are permitted to import diesel into Nigeria, the exclusive responsibility of importing petrol in the country lies with Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

Nigeria, despite being Africa’s biggest oil producer, relies on imported petroleum products due to insufficient refining capacity.