Senate Tuesday backed the increase of fuel price from N86.50 to N145 per litre. It therefore tasked the Federal Government to immediately implement palliatives in the 2016 budget to cushion the effects of the recent fuel price hike.
It, however, refused to summon the minister of state for petroleum and group managing director of NNPC, Ibe Kachikwu on the matter.
Kachikwu had told the House of Representatives on Monday that the Federal Government had no option but to increase the price of fuel from N86.50 to N145 per litre.
Rising from a one-hour closed-door session, the Senate called on government to negotiate with labour unions to forestall the planned industrial action.
The Senate also sympathised with Nigerians for the hardship the new price of petrol had caused and therefore called on government to implement the palliatives.
Deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, who announced the outcome of the one-hour closed-door session, said: “We sympathise with ordinary people of Nigeria on the hardships they are going through. The Senate will engage the Federal Government to find sustainable ways of improving the welfare of the people of Nigeria.
“We call on government to continue to engage the organised labour and other stakeholders to resolve issues in other not ground the system and impose more hardships on our people.
“Government should immediately start implementing palliative measures contained in the 2016 appropriation act passed by the National Assembly.”
Announcement of new fuel price last week had generated mixed reactions among labour unions. Recall that the Federal Government had last week rolled out palliatives in the 2016 budget to cushion effects of fuel price hike.
The government said it would be directly impacting the lives of more than 8 million Nigerians through the various social investments in the 2016 budget spending that would provide succour and serve as palliatives to ordinary Nigerians.
This disclosure was made by the senior special assistant to the Vice President on media and publicity, Laolu Akande.
He gave new details and a breakdown of the interventions and palliatives, some of which he said would be starting in a matter of weeks.
These, he listed, include direct payment of N5,000 monthly to 1million extremely poor Nigerians for 12 months for which N68.7bn was appropriated in the 2016 appropriation act.
Direct provision of soft loans for traders and artisans, including agricultural workers. According to him, this would reach a total of 1.76million Nigerians without the requirement of conventional collateral, with some of the traders likely to get about N60, 000. A total sum of N140.3bn has already been appropriated for this in the budget, he said.
Akande gave further details: “Payment of between N23,000 to N30,000 per month to 500,000 unemployed graduates who would be trained, paid and deployed to work as volunteer teachers, public health officers and extension service workers among other responsibilities.
“They would also be given electronic devices to empower them technologically both for their assignments and beyond. Similarly, 100,000 artisans would also be trained and paid. N191.5bn has been set aside for this in the budget.”
Other palliatives, he said: “At least 5.5 million Nigerian primary school children – i.e starting first in 18 states, three per geopolitical zones – would be fed for 200 school days under the free home-grown School Feeding Programme. N93.1 billion has been appropriated for this in the 2016 budget.
“100,000 tertiary students in Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) plus Education will partake in the N5.8bn already provided for this education grant in the budget. This payment would also be paid directly to the students.”
Akande said the N500 billion social investment programmes of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration are already-made palliatives to lift Nigerians from poverty and economic hardship.
