Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has faulted Nigerians who are against the proposed N8,000 monthly palliative for 12 million poor households each by the Nigerian Government.
The proposal was criticised by many Nigerians who described it as too little to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal.
But Governor Sule while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Friday night said that N8,000 is a lot of money for many poor families in Nigeria.
He said, “We were sharing only N5,000 and believe me there were so many people that were waiting for that N5,000 every month. Indeed, there were some communities that were able to do some kind of contributions and they were able to do a lot in their various communities.
“So, N8,000 may not be so much money to some people, but it is a lot to so many other people who are from very poor families that don’t see N8,000 every month.
“So, the only thing is that let us identify those families.”
The governor however agreed that there were issues with the national social register.
He noted that there were cases where people who were not supposed to be in the social register got paid during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
But he said that the governors are not advocating that the national social register should be discarded but that areas where amendments are needed should be looked into.
He said, “There are issues and that is why I think a lot of new governors have been the two-time governors that are there and some of us that have been there have been complaining about it.
“But we are not saying that it should be discarded, we are just saying it should be looked into, and if there are areas of amendments, we should amend them.”
Following the harsh impact of fuel subsidy removal by the government on Nigerians, President Bola Tinubu had proposed to transfer N8,000 digitally to 12 million poor households each in the country for a period of six months.
President Tinubu argued that the money would have multiplier effects on about 60 million individuals.
However, many Nigerians have criticised the government’s decision, citing the failure of the N5,000 conditional transfer embarked upon by the former President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.
Many people who are against the proposed palliative argued that it is another opportunity to embezzle public funds.
Tinubu has directed the review of the proposal.