A sinister attempt to divert public funds, Atiku’s aide slams Tinubu N8,000 monthly palliative plan

President Bola Tinubu’s proposal to distribute N8,000 to 12 million homes for a period of six months has been criticised as an egregious attempt to steal public monies by Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant on Public Communications to the Peoples Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar.

Shaibu claimed in a statement on Thursday that Tinubu’s plan to spend $800 million on palliatives under an opaque agreement was similar to the COVID-19 intervention initiative and the conditional cash transfer programme of former President Muhammadu Buhari, which saw politicians keep food and supplies in their homes while the underprivileged went without.

He said that the interventionist policies of Buhari only served to make Nigerians poorer, as evidenced by statistics published by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Shaibu stated, “After announcing the removal of petrol subsidy without proper planning, Tinubu has asked for the approval of a $800m loan which he claims will be disbursed to 12 million households for six months at N8,000 for each household per month.

“According to statistics, a Nigerian household as of 2019 counted an average of 5.06 members. So, with Tinubu’s uninspiring plan, each individual in a household will get N1,600 per month or N53 per day. What should they do with it?

Read Also: Reps approve Tinubu’s N500bn request for subsidy palliatives, 12m families to get N8k each

“Use the money to buy a sachet (pure) water or a cup of boiled groundnut on a daily basis? And this is the man they claim transformed the economy of Lagos State? This must be a joke or a more sinister attempt to divert public funds.”

Earlier, President Bola Tinubu disclosed a plan by the Federal Government to transfer N8,000 to 12 million poor households in Nigeria for a period of six months.

This was contained in a letter the President wrote to the House of Representatives regarding the 800 million dollars loan request of the Buhari administration for the social safety net programme.

The president is asking for approval of the House to secure the loan.

According to the President, the money transfer to poor households would have a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals.

For credibility, the President said the money will be transferred to the households digitally.

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