A foremost pro-democracy and anti-corruption advocate in Nigeria, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, has raised concern over the sharing formula for the disbursement of N500billion palliatives to Nigerians.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that President Bola Tinubu had written to the National Assembly, requesting N500billion for disbursement to Nigerians as palliatives to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.
The Federal Government has since planned to disburse N8,000 to 12million households monthly.
Reacting to the development, the CISLAC, in a statement by its Executive-Director, Auwal Musa-Rafsanjani, said there was a seeming lack of clarity and sincerity of purpose behind this sharing formula.
According to him, its illogical for each of the 469 legislators gets about N24 million each, while the more vulnerable public beneficiaries get N8000 each monthly.
He said: “More worrisomely, a breakdown of the amended N819.5 billion supplementary budget shows that N500 billion is set aside for palliatives to cushion the effect of recent fuel subsidy removal, N185 billion for the Ministry of Works and Housing to alleviate the impact of the flooding disaster suffered in the country in 2022 on road infrastructure across the six geopolitical zones,
“N19.2 billion for the Ministry of Agriculture to ameliorate the massive destruction to farmlands across the country during the flooding experienced last year; N35 billion to the National Judicial Council; N10 billion to the Federal Capital Territory Administration for critical projects; and N70 billion for the National Assembly to support the working conditions of new members.
“There is a seeming lack of clarity and sincerity of purpose behind this sharing formula and its illogical rationale as a further breakdown suggests that each of the 469 legislators gets about N24 million each, while the more vulnerable public beneficiaries get N8000 each monthly.
The Centre also raised a concern about the transparency in the disbursement of the fund, recalling that Nigerians have a fresh memory of palliative administrations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In more recent times, we have witnessed the inefficiency and lack of transparency that trailed interventions like the Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Microfinance Bank SME/Household loan and Anchor Borrower’s Programme, just to mention a few,” Mr Rafsanjani added.
Mr Rafsanajni, therefore, called on the Federal Government to ensure transparency and accountability in the administration of these new palliatives.
“The funds should be administered through the 774 local governments at N1.4 trillion per LGA, with each setting up a committee that will consist of community leaders, civil society groups, religious leaders and political leaders for effective monitoring.
“On the other hand, the LGAs could be required to utilize the funds (N1.4billion) in a manner that is consistent with maximizing social benefits in public expenditure, for instance through effectively monitored establishment or rehabilitation of public health care centres, health insurance schemes, skill acquisition centres or similarly robust initiatives,” he added.
