“We dare say that this decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to share ₦8,000 to 12 million family is highly provocative.” — Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA SPIDEL)
A legal icon, Carol Ajie Esq., has joined voices with the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA SPIDEL) to condemn the paltry ₦8,000 palliative to 12 million Nigerians, saying that the palliative is just another corrupt pathway to wipe off a whopping N500 billion.
It could be recalled that the NBA SPIDEL had told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to shelve his decision to disburse ₦8,000 to twelve million poor and low-income Nigerian households as palliatives to alleviate the negative effects of the fuel subsidy removal.
This was contained in a statement signed by Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins and Funmi Adeogun, the Chairman and Secretary respectively.
The NBA SPIDEL leadership expressed concerns that the idea of such money-sharing arrangement is effective and lacks transparency from the outset.
It acknowledged the government’s attempt to address the hardships faced by Nigerians due to the subsidy removal, but pointed out the lack of accountability in previous money-sharing initiatives.
The organisation further cited “similar experiences in the past, especially under the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari” where public funds were mismanaged and misappropriated.
The end result, it said, was “money-sharing policies [that] are poverty-activating rather than poverty-alleviating and thus have inconsequential impacts on the lives of the citizenry”.
“Under Buhari’s leadership, public funds were grossly mis-managed in the name of palliatives.
“It was in Nigeria that hundreds of billions of naira were said to have been used to feed school children, even when schools were under lock and key following lockdown restrictions improved as part of measures to halt spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“Then there was the TraderMoni show of shame. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, there’s hardly any empirical means of identifying the poor or the needy amongst Nigerians.
“It is common knowledge, that more often than not, in the past, jobs and facilities intended for the poor and the needy had ended up being grabbed by politicians to be shared to their relatives and cronies.”
NBA SPIDEL stated further: “The various large chunk of the public funds appropriated for the so-called “conditional cash transfer” programme under the Buhari administration has not been properly accounted for, thus putting into serious doubt the credibility, transparency and equity of the process.”
It, therefore, urged President Tinubu to redirect the funds saved from the subsidy removal towards the provision of social amenities that would directly and positively impact the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
“President Tinubu should know that Nigerians depend on him and trust his judgment to ensure that the funds saved from subsidy removal do not end up in private pockets under the guise of some nebulous and opaque social security programme whose effect on the average suffering Nigerian cannot be felt or guaranteed,” it added.
In conclusion, NBA SPIDEL appealed to Tinubu to shelve the proposed N8,000 palliative policy and instead prioritize measures that would have a tangible and lasting positive impact on the lives and standard of living of ordinary Nigerians.
The organisation also urged the President to design a comprehensive plan to enhance Nigeria’s refining capacity and reduce the cost of fuel, in order to provide relief to the Nigerian population.
It expressed their hope that the president would heed their call and make decisions that prioritize the well-being of the Nigerian people.
It recommended boosting the internal refining capacity of crude oil, introducing tax reliefs in the oil industry to bring down the cost of fuel in the country.
“We dare say that this decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to share N8,000 to 12 million family is highly provocative,” it concluded.
Reacting to the development, Ms. Ajie hailed the audacity of the NBA, Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest Development Law to speak truth to power.
She said: “Dear NBA, Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest Development Law, well said for the recommendation to focus on rail, roads, etc.
“We underscore support to public utilities to significantly reduce the cost of electricity and water supply to the public and or flood 36 States plus FCT with Coaster buses rather than creating yet another corrupt pathway to wipe a whopping ₦500 billion under the guise of feeding twelve (12) million Nigerian families.”
She noted that this is merely another “Bubu” factor. Read more.
—