The Federal Government has approved N5 billion for each State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to enable them to procure food items for distribution to the needy in their respective states.
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State made this known at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, shortly after the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting on Thursday.
This development comes in the wake of the hike in the cost of food items, and petroleum owing to the removal of subsidy on the commodity.
In addition to the fund, Zulum said the Federal Government also released five trucks of rice each to the 36 state governors.
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In addition, he said the state governors are to procure 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize, and fertilisers.
“52 percent of the funds were given to the state governments as grants while 48 percent as loans,” Zulum said.
It formed a committee comprised of Charles Soludo, Anambra State Governor, AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, and others to engage with the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) over the latter’s push for palliatives as a result of the subsidy removal.
Aside from the economic challenges that Nigeria faces as a result of the subsidy reduction, the NEC also reviewed security issues, particularly recent attacks in the country’s north.
Members of the NEC have been deliberating on how to mitigate the impact of the subsidy elimination.
