The Federal Government has approved N5bn as palliatives for each state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to enable them to procure food items for distribution to the poor in their respective states.
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State disclosed this at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, shortly after the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting.
This development development comes in the wake of the hike in the cost of food items, and petroleum owing to the removal of subsidy on the commodity. The Federal Government also released five trucks of rice each to the 36 state governors.
According to Governor, state governors are to procure 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize, and fertilizers.
52% of the funds for the palliatives were given to the state governments as grants with 48% as loans.
A committee, made up of the Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo; the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Governor AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman of Kwara State among others, was tasked with the responsibility of engaging with the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) over the latter’s push for palliatives due to the subsidy removal.
