He emphasised that N8,000 is a large sum of money for many poor families in the country who do not see such an amount in a month.
Abdullahi Sule, Governor of Nasarawa State, says he disagrees with those who argue that the Federal Government’s proposed N8,000 palliative will do little to soften the effects of the elimination of gasoline subsidies on impoverished Nigerians.
On Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, the governor claimed that N8,000 is a lot of money for so many poor families in the country who don’t get to see such an amount in a month.
“We were only sharing N5,000, and believe me, there were a lot of people waiting for that N5,000 every month.” Indeed, some communities were able to make some kind of contribution, and they were able to do a lot in their own communities.
“So, N8,000 may not seem like a lot of money to some, but it is a lot to many other people who come from very poor families and don’t see N8,000 every month.” “All we ask is that you identify those families,” Governor Sule added.
The National Executive Council (NEC) agreed on palliative measures for Nigerians at a meeting on Thursday.
The meeting, presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima and attended by governors from the Federation’s 36 states, resolved that cash transfers would be done through state social registers rather than national social registers, subject to local peculiarities.
Governor Sule acknowledged that there were problems with the national social registration, adding that there were instances of people who were not meant to be on the social register receiving government cash.
He did, however, state that the governors are not advocating for the abolition of the national social register, but rather that areas where changes are required be investigated.
“There are issues, which is why I believe a lot of new governors have been two-term governors, and some of us who have been there have been complaining about it.”
“But we are not saying it should be discarded; we are simply saying it should be investigated and, if there are areas for amendment, we should amend them,” he explained.
The Federal Government of Nigeria, led by President Bola Tinubu, suggested transferring N8,000 to 12 million impoverished households in Nigeria for a six-month period to cushion the impact of the loss of fuel subsidies on Nigerians.
According to the President, the transfer of funds to disadvantaged households will have a multiplier effect on almost 60 million people.
For further legitimacy, the President stated that the funds would be transferred digitally to households.
