THE President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero has stated that the N5 billion granted for each state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to lessen the effects of the removal of fuel subsidies on the populace is insufficient.
According to Ajaero, who appeared as a guest today on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the N5 billion will not equal N1,500 for each individual.
He noted that it is unclear whether the funds are being given to the states or to Nigerians as a palliative or as a loan.
“But whichever might be the case, let’s assume that it is palliative; you would agree that it is difficult to feel the impact of such an amount at a time like this.
“The [National] Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has come out to say that over 133 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor. You start to wonder about the impact of N185 billion to 133 million people by their admittance.
“And from the time this report was released and now, in fact, the first increase in the pump price of petroleum products and the last one, moved a lot of people from the borderline to a very high level of poverty.
“Now if you calculate it, you will discover that this will not translate to N1,500 per person and you ask: is that the impact? Is that really what we want to achieve? Let’s assume it’s a loan. What is really going to happen? Is it garbage in, garbage out?
“If it is N5 billion, I think the organised labour would want anybody to do the calculation and tell us how it is going to impact Nigerians on what is happening currently. If it is a loan then it is too bad,” the NLC President said.
Governor Babagana Zulum stated, following the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting yesterday that the state governors should use some of the funds provided by the federal government to buy 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize, and fertilizers.
He noted that 52% of the cash were distributed as grants to the state governments, while 48% were disbursed as loans.
