As Nigerians continue to complain about the meager foodstuffs that state governors recently distributed as palliatives, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has given the 36 state governors an ultimatum of one week to disclose details of how they each spent the N2 billion given to them by the Federal Government or face legal action. This comes as Nigerians continue to complain about the meager foodstuffs that state governors recently distributed as palliatives.
As a palliative measure to cushion the blow of the loss of the fuel subsidy, the federal government stated one month ago that it would provide a package worth N5 billion to each state and territory of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Later on, the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, stated that the Federal Government had only disbursed N2 billion out of the N5 billion loan that it had offered to each state as a palliative to soften the effect of the elimination of the subsidy.
Since then, there has been a string of criticism directed toward the manner in which the governors have spent these loans, which the majority of Nigerians believe have had little impact on their level of anguish.
Postings of a few spaghetti boxes and bowls of rice, which many claim were all they got as their portion of the N2 billion, are flooding social media platforms including as Facebook and Twitter. Many people expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that nothing was even discussed in their respective states, or if it was, nothing had made its way to them.
In a statement that was released on Sunday, SERAP posed a question to the governors of Nigeria, inquiring about the expenditure of the palliative that had been provided by Abuja.
Kolawole Oluwadare, who serves as the organization’s deputy director, has urged the various states to “disclose details on spending of the N2 billion palliative recently disbursed to each state by the federal government, including the names of beneficiaries and details of the reliefs so far provided with the money.”
The statement added that,
“It is in the public interest to publish the details on spending of the N2 billion palliative and any subsequent disbursement of funds to your government.
“Nigerians have the right to know how their states are spending the fuel subsidy relief funds. It is part of their legally enforceable human rights.
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel you and your state to comply with our request in the public interest.”
Earlier, the Assistant General-Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Chris Onyeka, issued a warning that the NLC was opposed to the N5 billion palliative package that was handed to states, arguing that it was a sham. Specifically, Onyeka said that the package was a sham because it was given to states as ‘’a form of settlement to state governors.’’
Mr. Onyeka, who said that labor officials in the states were not involved in the committees responsible for distributing the palliatives, came to the conclusion that “that money was a dash for the boys.” We have reason to assume that the administration has utilized that money to settle with the governors of the various states. It is not intended for common Nigerians or working people.
“So the possibility that such money will get to Nigerians is very slim and that is the truth. We made it clear that we don’t want any palliative for Nigerian workers and the Nigerian people to be handled by state governors.
“We made this very clear to the Federal Government on several occasions. So any money they are giving to them (governors), we are not in support of it,” the NLC official stated.
Only two billion of the five billion naira allotted to each state government for palliatives were ultimately made available because, as Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Wale Edun explained, the goal was to stop spiraling inflation brought on by having too much money in circulation.
He added: “Although the sum of five billion is earmarked, you will agree with me that to release such funds across all the states, all at once, will be self-defeating because it will lead to an inflationary spiral, it will lead to the cost of the goods being sold going up, it will lead to the exchange rate moving. This explains the two billion naira that has been released as an initial intervention.”
According to Mr. Edun, there is a significant quantity of cash held outside of the banking system and in foreign jurisdictions held by Nigerians, and it is urgently necessary to mobilize this wealth back into the system in order to support the value of the naira.
“There is a lot of cash outside the system, which, if brought into the system, will increase the money supply of dollars and increase the reserves. There are funds in domiciliary accounts, which if you give people the incentive, they will utilise for investment in Nigeria. Nigerians in Nigeria have huge holdings of foreign currency in banks abroad and financial institutions abroad.
“We need to provide the environment that brings those funds home to choose to invest in the Nigerian economy rather than foreign economies, which is what they are doing now. If you place money in a bank abroad, they’re investing in a foreign economy,” he added.