A detailed breakdown of how President Bola Tinubu’s N819 billion palliative package will be shared has been revealed, showing that Lawmakers in the National Assembly will get ₦70 billion allocation. It will be recalled that Tinubu had on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, requested the passage of the N500 billion from the supplementary budget for subsidy palliatives.
The request seeks to amend the 2022 supplementary appropriation act to extract N500 billion from the budget, specifically for the provisions of palliatives to Nigerians to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal. The breakdown of the funds indicates that the N500 billion component of the N819 billion is meant for fuel subsidy palliatives, N185.2 billion is for the Ministry of Works, N19.2 billion is earmarked for the Ministry of Agriculture, N100 million is for the Ministry of Water Resources, N35 billion is for the National Judicial Council, the FCTA is set to receive N10 billion, and N70 billion is earmarked for the National Assembly infrastructure.
According to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, the passage of the N500 billion requested by President Tinubu will primarily address the sufferings of Nigerians caused by the removal of fuel subsidy, while also addressing other infrastructural challenges brought by the 2022 flood disaster nationwide. The aim is to cushion the impact of the subsidy removal and provide socio-economic impact directly on the lives of Nigerians.
In summary, the breakdown of the N819 billion supplementary budget includes allocations for fuel subsidy palliatives, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water Resources, National Judicial Council, FCTA, and National Assembly infrastructure. The focus is to alleviate the impact of fuel subsidy removal and address the needs of Nigerians affected by the subsidy removal and other challenges faced by the nation.
