N500bn subsidy palliative: SERAP asks Tinubu to publish details of Nigerians to benefit

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Projects (SERAP), has urged Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, to publish details of how he will be spending the N500 billion palliative he is requesting.

In a statement posted on its Twitter page on Wednesday, SERAP demanded that the president immediately release information about the spending, including the names of those who will benefit from the palliative.

“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,” tweet by SERAP read.

In a letter to the House of Representatives (HOR) earlier on Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu asked for a change to the 2022 supplementary appropriation Act that would allow the Federal Government to use N500 billion as a palliative to lessen the impact of subsidy removal.

The President claimed in the letter that it had become necessary to make the request in order to, among other things, find the money needed to provide Nigerians with palliatives to lessen the effects of the recent removal of fuel subsidies. The letter was read aloud on the floor of the house by Speaker HOR Dr. Tajudeen Abbas.

Recall that Mr Tinubu, during his inauguration as Nigeria’s president, ordered the immediate removal of fuel subsidy. The move had led to an outrageous increase in the pump price of fuel.