The National Economic Council (NEC) announced on Thursday that the Federal Government has approved a grant of N5 billion for each of the 36 states in the federation to aid them in procuring grains and providing five trucks of rice to each state as palliatives, aiming to mitigate the impact of fuel subsidy removal.
In addition to this, NEC has granted permission for the distribution of 40,000 bags of maize to be allocated to the states. The Council also directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to distribute food supplies to states that share a border with Niger Republic, in response to the recent political instability there.
These decisions were reached during the NEC meeting led by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Following the meeting, Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State shared that the N5 billion grant and the provision of rice and grains through trucks are temporary measures to alleviate the impact of subsidy removal on the cost of living. The government is concurrently working on more sustainable programs.
Governor Zulum explained that the states are required to procure 100,000 bags of rice and beans, among other items. The NEC has also mandated NEMA to oversee the distribution of food items to states sharing borders with Niger Republic.
Governor Prof. Charles Soludo of Anambra State indicated that the review of the social register is ongoing. He highlighted that Nigeria is currently hosting refugees from Niger Republic, which has an impact on the distribution of palliatives.
Contrarily, Governor Senator Uba Sani of Kaduna State noted that only N2 billion has been disbursed to states so far, falling short of the initially approved N5 billion.