The Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, has insisted that the proposed N8,000 cash transfer palliative by the Federal Government 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.
This was made known by Governor Sule while featuring as a guest on a Channels Television program, Politics Today, on Friday night, where he disagreed with those arguing that the N8,000 won’t do much to cushion the impact of the fuel subsidy removal on poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
A lot to so many people
The Governor said,
- “We were sharing only N5,000, and believe me there were so many people that were waiting for that N5,000 every month. Indeed, some communities were able to do some kind of contributions and they were able to do a lot in their various communities.
- “So, N8,000 may not be so much money to some people, but it is a lot to so many other people who are from very poor families that don’t see N8,000 every month. So, the only thing is that let us identify those families.’’
Issues with the current national social register
Governor Sule admitted that there were issues with the national social register, adding that there were cases where people who were not supposed to be in the social register collecting funds from the government.
He, however, said that the governors are not saying that the national social register should be discarded but rather look at areas that require amendment.
He said,
- “There are issues and that is why I think a lot of new governors have been the two-time governors that are there, and some of us that have been there have been complaining about it.
- “But we are not saying that it should be discarded, we are just saying it should be looked into that, and if there are areas of amendments, we should amend them.’’
In case you missed it
President Bola Tinubu had over a week ago, sought the approval of the National Assembly to spend the sum of N500 billion for palliatives to cushion the effect of the recent fuel subsidy removal on poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
The president had proposed a cash transfer of N8,000 to 12 million poor households in Nigeria for 6 months to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy.
According to the President, the money transfer to poor households would have a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals adding that the money will be transferred to the households digitally to ensure credibility.
However, the president a few days ago ordered a review of the N8,000 conditional cash transfer program for 12 million poor households in Nigeria due to concerns raised and criticisms of the policy.
Meanwhile, the National Economic Council (NEC) had 2 days ago decided not to use the social register from the previous administration, led by Muhammadu Buhari, for the implementation of its conditional cash transfer program due to credibility issues.
Instead, the council suggested a cash transfer program for states using their social registers and a six-month cash reward system for public servants.
This resolution emerged from a lengthy meeting at the state house on Thursday between the Vice-President, 36 state Governors, a representative of the Governor of the Central bank, and other co-opted government officials.
It is open to.corruption. The monies packaged in the envelopes are never complete. The real down trodden were never captured in any database. Government should democratise the registration of families using the internet and deploy private consultants to verify thereby creating jobs. In this way, the process is open and closed to corruption. Also, it should be linked to NIN, BVN and should be amendable like wikipedia platform by the original data owner where there is new addition to the family, deaths etc.
Lol, stupidity of the highest order….less down #60 per day , they should be ashamed of themselves