THE Presidency has stated that the Federal Government is prepared to monitor the state-level distribution of palliatives to Nigerians in order to lessen the impact of the elimination of subsidies.
Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Advisor to the President on Media and Publicity, revealed this today Politics Today on Channels Television.
“It is fair to say that there does not need to be a check. There needs to be a means of monitoring which is why federal regulators are involved; which is why we have put in place the palliatives distribution,” he said.
The Federal Government authorized N5 billion for each state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to allow them to purchase food products for distribution to the poor in their respective states.
This information was revealed at the Presidential Villa in Abuja shortly after the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting yesterday by Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum.
Within hours of the announcement, Tinubu’s spokesperson acknowledged that there was a chance that bad apples could show up during the disbursement process, but added that his principal would enact a bottom-up strategy.
“So, what we are doing now is this: yes, the state government is being empowered to the extent that they are implementing some of the palliatives that we are talking about with respect to the delivery of rice and maize to communities across the states and other supplements that are well known by now.
“But what we are also doing is that from the federal end, we are ensuring that these funds are not just giveaway grants that don’t have to be paid back. First of all, it’s a loan facility.”
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