The organised labour and some economists have faulted the plan by the Federal Government to transfer N8,000 into the accounts of 12 million vulnerable and poor Nigerians over the next six months to cushion the effects of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol.
The Senate had on Thursday approved the request of President Bola Tinubu to borrow $800m loan from the World Bank. It also amended the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act to accommodate the provision for N500bn for palliatives to mitigate the effect of petrol subsidy removal on poor Nigerians.
The President requested the two approvals in separate letters read by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, at the plenary.
According to Tinubu, the $800m loan will be used to cater for the welfare of the vulnerable and poor households in the country under the National Safety Net Programme, while the sum of N8,000 will be transferred monthly to the bank accounts of 12 million poor and low income households for six months.
There is unease in many states of the federation as the effects of the removal of subsidy keep biting Nigerians harder as rising costs of living and commuting have thrown a lot of households into poverty.
It will be recalled that the President announced the end to subsidy payment to fuel importers and marketers at his inauguration on May 29, 2023.
As a result of the announcement, the pump price of petrol was immediately increased by marketers to N500 per litre from N185 with the attendant rise in the cost of transportation, food and other goods and services.
Following threat by the organised labour to embark on a nationwide strike, the Federal Government rallied labour unions and a committee was set up to work out appropriate palliatives. The panel has yet to submit its report although the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria proposed N200,000 as the national minimum wage instead of the current N30,000 to cushion the effect of subsidy removal on workers.
The Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, Lagos chapter, Mrs Funmi Sessi, said the Federal Government’s plan was like a drop of water in the ocean.
Sessi spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Friday, as stakeholders in the sector reacted to the government’s plan.
The President had in a request to the National Assembly indicated the intention of his administration to cater for the welfare of the vulnerable and poor households in the country under the National Safety Net Programme.
He said under the plan, the sum of N8,000 would be transferred digitally on a monthly basis to the accounts of 12 million poor and low income households for six months.
The money is expected to stimulate economic activities in the informal sector and improve the standard of living in the beneficiaries’ households.
Sessi said, “Looking at the money and the effect of the subsidy removal that has escalated the prices of everything in the market, I wonder what the N8,000 can do for a family in a month.
“I wonder what it can buy and the services it can render for 30 days; N8,000 cannot take care of a family for a week; it is not possible; it is going to be like a drop of water in the ocean.
“We do not know how the government is going to get clarity for those who will require it the most; how it will identify those who are most affected, and how the palliatives will get to those actually in need.
“Labour is asking for a pay rise; for those in abject poverty, we believe the government can do better for them.”
The labour leader, however, urged the President to instead provide facilities and infrastructure to make Nigerians independent to be able to provide for themselves and their families.
“It should profile those who want to do various agricultural activities, give them the resources and mobilise them, so that they can also become employers of labour,” she added.
However, the state chapter of the NLC rose from a meeting Thursday with a list of such palliatives it intends to propose to the government for implementation.
The state Chairman of the NLC, Yusuf Inuwa, “We have drawn a list of such palliatives, which we will forward to the government through the Office of the State Head of Service.
“The proposed palliatives include reduction of working days to three; deployment of more metro buses to ply township routes, not only for workers, but for all commuters; the government should also provide foodstuffs for workers at subsidised rates every month end; and any other palliatives the government may be kind enough to provide.
“You will get the details when the government approves them for implementation.”
Governor Babagana Zulum has not formed his second-term cabinet.
