The Federal Government has secured $800m from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) to provide post-petroleum subsidy palliatives for over 50 million Nigerians ahead of June 2023. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, revealed this to State House correspondents on Wednesday, after this week’s Federal Executive Council chaired by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. According to Ahmed, the $800m forms the first tranche of palliatives ready to be disbursed to 10 million households in form of cash. She said, “There’s a provision (of the Petroleum Industry Act) that says 18 months after the effectiveness of the PIA that all petroleum products must be deregulated. That 18 months takes us to June 2023.
According to her, wide-ranging negotiations are underway to deploy non-cash palliatives such as a “mass transit” system for workers’ daily commute. So there are several things that we’re still planning and working on, some we can start executing quickly, some are more medium-term implementation. There are a lot of discussions going on at different levels, including with members of the transition committee of the incoming government,” she added. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, had said the incoming administration would bear the brunt of providing palliative measures for millions of Nigerians ahead of the discontinuance of petrol subsidy in June 2023.
