By Eric Elezuo
Following the proposed distribution of N5 billion to various states governments of the Federation by the Federal government to alleviate the hardship occasioned by the petrol subsidy removal, Mr Daniel Bwala, an aide to the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, has described the process as renewed nonsense.
Recall that the President Bola Tinubu-led government had declared to release administrative palliative of N5 billion to poor households through the state governors.
Bwala, who has remained vocal member of the Atiku/Okowa presidential council, made the remark in his verified X handle while noting that the exercise is a mockery to the sufferings of the people at the moment even as he stressed that organized labour has demystified the palliative.
Toeing the line and calculation of organised labour, Bwala noted that each person would get N1,500 from the palliative.
He wrote: “The organised labour has demystified the so-called 5 billion naira FGN gave to States; first the FGN said it was a palliative and they are now saying it is a loan.
“Organized labour further did their arithmetical calculations and arrived at a shameful conclusion that the so-called 5billion naira comes down to N1,500 per person.
“How much is the cost of food items in the market? Renewed nonsense.”
The Federal Government had announced plans to release N5 billion as palliative to cushion the effect of subsidy removal.
On May 29, 2023 when the administration took office, Tinubu had announced that ‘subsidy is gone’, thereby throwing the nation into economic crisis where the cost of food and services hit the roof, causing not a few households to starve and live in extended and abject penury.
Tinubu had followed up with more harsh policies that seem to ensure that the hardship persists with the price of petrol increasing to all time high with aa space of days. Today, petrol is sold at N617.
Information reaching The Boss has it that the disbursement of the N5 billion has commenced, and some states have already been credited.
