50 million vulnerable Nigerians to benefit from $800m World Bank fuel subsidy palliative

By Business A.M. 

The federal government says it has secured a World Bank facility worth $800 million, as part of its post-subsidy palliative plans for vulnerable Nigerians and to cushion the effects of the planned fuel subsidy removal.

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, who made the disclosure to newsmen, after the federal executive council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari,said the $800 million was first tranche of palliatives to be disbursed  to about 50 million Nigerians, who belong to the most vulnerable category of society.

Expressing the government’s position on fuel subsidy, she said the 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the Appropriation Act made provision to enable Nigeria exit fuel subsidy by June 2023.

She noted that the government is on course towards implementing fuel subsidy and have engaged different stakeholders to ensure positive development.

According to Ahmed, the funding from the World Bank is the first tranche of palliatives that will enable the government to give cash transfers to the most vulnerable in the society who have been registered in a national social register.

“Today that register has a list of 10 million households. Ten million households is equivalent to about 50 million Nigerians,” she added.

The minister further stated that the government was ready to go beyond cash transfer to cushion the effect the subsidy removal would have on Nigerians.

“We also have to raise more resources to enable us to do more than just the cash transfers and also in our engagements with the various stakeholders, the various kinds of tasks that we have go beyond the requirement of just giving cash transfers. Labour, for example, might be looking for mass transit for its members.

“So there are several things that we’re still planning and working on, some we can start executing quickly, some are more medium-term implementation,” she said.

The minister also confirmed that the incumbent government had been discussing subsidy removal with the incoming administration, adding that there are a lot of discussions going on at different levels, including with members of the transition committee of the incoming government.