The Federal Government has scrapped plans to distribute monthly cash of N8,000 to 12 million households as part of efforts to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal, PODIUM REPORTERS can reliably report.
Sources in the Villa confirmed the development to this publication today, citing concerns over the ability of the cash distribution to meet the administration’s goal of supporting the poor in the country grappling with the resultant price spike following the termination of the corrupt subsidy regime.
Instead, the administration is set to increase the country’s minimum wage, a longstanding demand of Nigeria’s Labour Union. The increment is expected to jack up the earnings of millions of Nigerians and provide succour amid the palpable rise in the cost of living.
Additionally, the FG will also distribute key commodities targeted at the poor to offer relief and ensure their survival as the country confronts the expected shocks widely predicted to follow the termination of the subsidy regime which burdened the country’s finances and starved other important sectors such as health, education and infrastructure of required funds to grow and develop.
More details of the FG’s new plan to provide relief to poor Nigerians will follow.