President Bola Tinubu has promised about 12 million households N8,000 monthly relief payments over a period of six months to ameliorate the hardships faced by Nigerians as a result of subsidy removal.
In a letter to the House of Representatives read by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas during plenary on Thursday, Tinubu said it was designed to enable indigent and vulnerable Nigerian people to cope with the cost of meeting basic needs.
The letter waiting for approval of additional financing for the national social safety net programme scaled up by the National Assembly.
The President said this would have a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals.
In order to ascertain the credibility of the process, he said digital transfers would be made directly to beneficiaries’ accounts.
Recall that Tinubu on Wednesday also wrote a letter to the House of Representatives, requesting the approval of N500 billion to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.
Essentially, the President is seeking the amendment of the 2022 supplementary appropriation act to accommodate the funds.
Speaker of the House, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas read the letter of the president’s request at Wednesday’s plenary.
Titled “Request for the amendment of the 2022 appropriation act”, the letter reads in part: “I write to request the approval of the House of Representatives an amendment of the 2022 appropriation act in accordance with the law.
“The request has become necessary in other to source funds to provide necessary palliatives to cushion the effect of the recent removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria.
“The sum of N500 billion only has been extracted from the 2022 appropriation act of N819.536 for the provision of palliatives to Nigerians to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal. I expect that the House will speedily consider the request”.