The House of Representatives has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the announcement of palliatives aimed at alleviating the adverse economic effects resulting from the removal of fuel subsidy.
Palliative measures
A statement issued by the Spokesman of the House, Honourable Akin Rotimi, Jr, the people’s parliament empathised with Nigerians who have been distressed due to the gap between the removal of the subsidy and the implementation of palliative measures, and expressed optimism that the policies and initiatives announced by the Executive would be expedited to bring succor to the people.
“The House commends President Tinubu for his interventions in the manufacturing sector via support for small and medium scale enterprises, as well as the plan to work with the state governments to invest in critical social and economic infrastructure, and to deploy 3000 commuter buses, amongst other measures. The integrated interventions would stimulate economic productivity, boost agriculture production, create jobs, and improve living conditions. The House also welcomes the planned upward review of the national minimum wage and will consider and approve once transmitted to the National Assembly by the presidency.” Honourable Rotimi, said.
Constitutional obligation
He also assured Nigerians that the House would be alive to the constitutional obligation to effectively monitor all entities of government responsible for the deployment of the palliative measures.
“On our part in the House of Representatives, we will closely monitor every MDA that will be involved in the implementation to ensure speedy delivery, equitable distribution, and transparency,” he said.
On July 13, 2023, the House of Representatives approved the request presented by President Tinubu for the amendment of the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act to extract N500 billion from the budget for palliatives to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy.
Lateefah Ibrahim
