Using Social registries created by the state is best in distributing subsidy palliatives. The National Economic Council (NEC) announced on yesterday.continue reading

This was declared by the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, on Thursday during the NEC meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja's Council Chambers, which was presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima.

Charles Soludo of Anambra and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi, as well as Folashodun Shonubi, acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), stood to his sides.

Governors from the 36 states that make up the Federation, the Director General of the Nigerian Governors' Forum, participants from the World Bank, and representatives from other governmental organisations attended the meeting.

The proposed distribution of N8,000 to a select group of residents was initially roundly rejected by Nigerians, who claimed that doing so would just open the door for government officials to embezzle the funds.

This compelled the Tinubu administration to declare that it would be reviewing the strategy.

Yesterday, Abiodun stated in a statement to journalists that the economic council had discussed employing cash transfers based on state social registrations and the unique characteristics of each state.

He claimed that since petrol was deregulated, market forces rather than the federal government were to blame for the increase in fuel prices.

The meeting also decided to support enhanced engagements between state governors and the leadership of the labour unions across the states, he said, and proposed the provision of the cost-of-living allowances to be paid to civil servants in both the state and federal civil services. 

This was done after extensive deliberations on the proposals of the NEC Ad hoc Committee on cushioning the effect of cushioning the removal of petrol subsidies led by Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo.

According to him, there would be no tax on the initial six-month payment.

According to Abiodun, the meeting also decided that funding for Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) was necessary. It also decided to start implementing plans for the energy transition right now, particularly the conversion of buses and taxis from petroleum to CNG.

He stated that the adoption of electric vehicles was the long-term strategy and added that it would take six to eight months to create such plants in each geopolitical region.

The governor discussed a bold proposal to give 10,000 buses with energy.

Vice President Shettima read the Council resolutions in a speech following discussions on the presentation and noted, "We will also pursue vigorously, the mass deployment of CNG-powered vehicles and establishment of autogas conversion plants/kits in all States in the short-term as well as deployment of electric buses and cars with charging infrastructure across the country."

In order to lessen the effects of the elimination of the petrol subsidy on the populace, Governor Mohammed stated NEC also supported the Federal Government's planned distribution of cereals and fertiliser to Nigerians through the Central Bank of Nigeria.

State governments will distribute food items, grains, fertiliser, chemicals, and other tools to ensure food security at the rate purchased from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), which is expected to begin on July 24.

He estimated that 252,000 metric tonnes of wheat and 252,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser would each be distributed.  

In his remarks regarding the cash transfer, Governor Soludo claimed that it was impossible to digitally send funds to the most impoverished people, the bulk of whom are unable to open bank accounts since the recipients of the allegedly sent funds could not be located in the communities.

In order to ensure that all beneficiaries at the subnational level could be easily accessed, he claimed that NEC decided that the states should create their own registers using both formal and informal methods.

We have to deal with the issue that we lack a reliable registry, he stated.

Soludo said that the current National Social Register failed the integrity test since it was referred to by several attendees as "bogus" and "fathom" during the meeting.

"I believe there was practically complete agreement among members of the council today. The credibility of the so-called National Social Register is seriously in doubt. We have concerns about how the names on the register came to be, and one of the queries I'm sure I hear is, "Where is it for the most vulnerable group?"

In addition to not having access to your phone, the poorest 25% of Nigerians are significantly if not entirely, unbanked. The poorest in our society, it is one of the poorest.

According to Soludo, the gathering also prompted public servants to reduce the expenses associated with leading their diverse sectors of society.