Tinubu’s N5bn palliative per state will be looted, Nigerians suggest alternatives

Nigerians have thumbs down the N5 billion handed to each state as palliative to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

The federal government had on Thursday approved N180 billion to be shared by the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory as part of its efforts to alleviate the harsh realities of fuel subsidy removal.

According to the federal government, the funds are to be used for the purchase of food items to be shared to households.

But Nigerians have pooh-poohed the intervention, saying it would either be looted, or mismanaged.

On Twitter, the reactions have been torrential.

@firstladyship said: “N5 billion to states is a terrible policy. It’ll be looted by most governors. Rough Estimate: Lagos Population: N5B/15m people = N333 per person.

“Borno Population: N5B/7.5m people = 666 per person. Should I be the one to tell you that this initiative is already a disaster?”

@SavvyRinu said: “We will all learn statistics by force. N5 billion per state as palliative for fuel subsidy removal. 200 million+/36 states = 6 million people average.

“6 million people/5 people per family = 1.2 million family per state How much will get to your own family out of the N5 billion?”

@Ipson51 said: “I think it is better the Federal Govt to share the money through people’s accounts because I am pretty sure this governors will keep the money for their personal accounts. My reason is that if our governors will hide Covid 19 palliatives when people were dying, how do you expect them to give out this N5b.”

@ABDULLAHISAMSU8 said: “Instead of all this, why not use it to pay the subsidy back? This is a backward idea and an avenue to put more suffering on the poor.”

@aminsaad said: “This is simply “awoof” money for state politicians, probably similar to the “enjoyment allowance” at the Senate.”