Subsidy removal palliative: Why FG must steer with stakeholders’ consultation

Without much controversy, the National Social Investment Programme of the immediate past administration did not record much success with regards to socio-economic impacts in real terms. Although measuring the impact of the whole gamut of the programme may be clogged with some parameters that may not give assessment of the policy a straight cut summation in exact and round terms, it is conclusive that the programme did not alleviate poverty as intended. The conditional cash transfer and the school feeding programme which gulped funds in billions failed to eradicate any poverty. Rather, the scourge of poverty between 2016 and the time the government exited in May 2023 worsened.

The new government which kicked off in less than two months from May 29, met conditions that could be said to be excruciating to many. However, an announcement of the government by the new President, Bola Tinubu in his inaugural speech, declaring discontinuation of subsidy payment on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, meant a situation that would further toughen conditions for the masses. The immediate effect has seen hike in the pump prices of petrol. The attendant impact has informed hike in transportation fare and prices of commodities.

The outcry of Nigerians grew much louder when on Monday the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) announced an upward adjustment for petrol pump price, pegging it at N617/per litre. Immediately, lamentations took over the air.  It means prices of goods and services would further soar high; Nigerians lamented hike in transport fare.

Amidst all, the announcement of the Federal Government to provide a palliative of N8,000 monthly to 12million households for six months has been greeted with austere condemnation. Critics have lamented and described same as ridiculous amidst the tough socioeconomic conditions which have seen inflation soaring as  high as 22.79 per cent in June. Critics have pointed out with comparative juxtaposition the jumbo pay of public officers, with particular reference to recent controversial allocations to lawmakers in the National Assembly and Judges of the Judiciary. For instance, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) vexed by the new pump price on Monday lamented the meagre sum “called palliatives” while lamenting the N70billion, and N36billion allegedly allocated for lawmakers and judges. The NLC’s vexation rallied round the ridiculous amount of N8,000 for pallatives, allegations of the poor consultation by the present government with stakeholders, and recent request for loan to fund the palliative. The NLC in its lamentations which took knocks on the government in a statement by its President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, had said:  ”We have restrained ourselves from making further comments publicly on the vexatious issues around the recent but unfortunate unilateral hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in the guise of the so-called subsidy withdrawal which has unleashed predictably as we had earlier warned unimaginable and unprecedented hardship, sorrow, anguish and suffering upon Nigerian workers and masses.

“Our resolve is anchored on our strong and abiding faith in the outcomes of the processes of social dialogue and its mechanisms, especially within a democratic setting which fortunately all the major stakeholders in the nation’s socioeconomic framework pleads to at this particular point in time though some have demonstrably shown that it does not go deeper than the rhetoric.

“However, the government of Nigeria seems to have been misled into believing that resorting to impunity and imperiousness in governance in a democracy is a beneficial option as it pursues its stated and unstated objectives.

“It is this belief that we are sure has continued shaping the actions of this government since its inauguration on the 29th day of May, 2023 to continue inflicting mindless and heartless pains on the populace one after the other without the decency of embracing the tenets of democracy which requires wide and deep stakeholder consultation on weighty matters of state.

“Nigerians would remember that the federal government had called for dialogue in the aftermath of its disastrous forlorn trajectory in the astronomical increase in Petroleum product price and our subsequent call for a nation-wide industrial action. We were also witnesses to the actions of the federal government in procuring an unholy injunction from the Courts which were served us in Gestapo style by trucks laden with fully armed soldiers and Policemen.

“In all of these provocations, we remained committed to the principles of the Rule of Law, good conscience and democracy so that we can continue to be the moral compass for leaders in the public space. This explained our decision to suspend action on the proposed strike.

“As it stands, rather than reciprocate the goodwill of Nigerian workers, the federal government has insisted on threading the path of dictatorship and seeking to impoverish the people further by taking steps that can only be described as robbing the people of Nigeria to pay and feed the Rich.

“It is on this basis that the NLC strongly condemns the decision of the Tinubu-led administration to seek the approval of the National Assembly to obtain another tranche of external loans worth N500billion from the World Bank for the purposes of carrying out a phantom palliative measure to cushion the effect of its poorly thought-out hike in the prices of Premium Motor Spirit.

“Remember that the $ 800million which was already proposed before the devaluation of the Naira by this government was worth about N400 billion then but is now worth about N650 billion after devaluation. It is from this, it proposes to bring out N500 billion for distribution.

“The proposal to pay N8,000 to each of the so-called 12 million poorest Nigerian households for a period of six months insults our collective intelligence and makes a mockery of our patience and abiding faith in social dialogue which the government may have alluded to albeit pretentiously.

“The further proposal to pay National Assembly members the sum of N70 billion and the Judiciary N36b is the most insensitive, reckless and brazen diversion of our collective patrimony into the pockets of public officers whose sworn responsibility it is to protect our nation’s treasury. We believe that this may amount to hush money and outright bribery of the other arms of government to acquiesce the aberration.

“It is unconscionable that a government that has foisted so much hardship on the people within nearly two months of coming into office will make a proposal that clearly rewards the rich in public office to the detriment of the poor. What this means all this while is that the government is seeking ways of robbing the very poor Nigerians so that the rich can become richer.

“There is no other way to explain the proposal to pay a misery sum of N8,000 Naira to each of the mysterious poorest 12 million Households for six months which amounts to N48,000 and pay just 469 National Legislators N70b or about N149m each while the Judiciary that has about 72 Appeal Court Judges, 33 National Industrial Court Judges, 75 Federal High Court Judges and 21 Supreme Court Judges and a total of about 201 Judges receives a total of N35b or N174m each. If these other two arms are projected to receive this, what members of the Executive Council will receive is better left to the imagination of Nigerians perhaps, the balance of N150b will go to them.

“These proposals are not just unacceptable to Nigerian workers but are also dictatorial and thus undemocratic. It is not a product of social dialogue which would have produced collectively negotiated outcomes by critical national stakeholders.

“We had thought that this government given the circumstances of its emergence ought to have been a stickler to all the preachments of the fine tenets of democracy which would have shored up its image and begun to build legitimacy for itself. Unfortunately, it seems to be in a hurry to abandon the remaining pretensions to democracy that the previous administration left behind.

“Furthermore, the actions of the federal government show that it does not have trust and confidence in the very Presidential Committee that it set up to take a comprehensive look at the consequences of the Petroleum Product price hike and make recommendations on the way forward to ameliorate its negative impacts upon the citizenry. What this means is that the government may actually not be interested in the work of the Committee and may have used it as a window to pretend to Nigerians that it is taking steps towards dealing with the consequences of its policies.

“We do not understand why the federal government would seek to undermine itself as its action suggests. Why not wait for the Committee to sit and come up with the needed recommendations which would then guide the government’s fiscal and monetary policies? Seeking to borrow and going to the NASS for an approval means that it has already taken decisions on what it wants to do and has a budget thus is in need to borrow to fund these activities. Like they will tell you; it is a fait accompli.

“We reiterate that we do not have confidence in how the data for the never changing 12m poorest households was generated neither do we have confidence in the mechanisms being pursued for the distribution of the cash transfers. The history of such transfers especially the school feeding programmes even while the children were at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Trader Moni saga fills Nigerians with trepidation reminding us of the continued heist of our collective resources by those in Public office.

“We have continually demanded that this register be made public but, it seems to have become an instrument of the occult shrouded in mystery and wielded by the grandmasters whenever opportunities like this present themselves.

“It is important to inform Nigerians that despite having shown our readiness to commence work in the Committees, the federal government which convenes the meetings is yet to inaugurate the National Steering Committee thus stalling the Work of the Proposed Committees.

“If the government had wanted an expedited action which Nigerians want more, the best approach would have been to quickly inaugurate the Committees and allow them do their work but as we write, nothing has been done except the continuation of the borrowing spree and subsequent allocation to themselves.

“NLC would not want to continue to be part of the usual charade of Committees with outcomes that are never implemented. We would not want to waste the time of Nigerians especially workers on Committees that have already been programmed to fail and thus ignored.

“We do not want to provide a cover for the government to get away with the hardship it has imposed on the people. We do not want to legitimize impunity.

“As a result, if the government does not want to stop these fortuitous actions that it is pursuing in the name of palliatives, we will be forced to constructively review our engagement with the government on this vexatious issue and take matters into our own hands.”

Amidst the pressure of castigation that the palliative lacks human appeals, President Bola Tinubu Tuesday night, directed that the proposed N8,000 conditional cash transfer programme be reviewed immediately. The President had also said that the whole gamut of the palliative package of government to cushion the effect of subsidy removal that has led to the high cost of goods and services be unveiled to Nigerians.

In a statement issued, Tuesday night, by the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Mr. Dele Alake, the President had said: “You will agree with me that it has become part of the culture of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to constantly dialogue with Nigerians who voted him into office. The President covenanted with Nigerians that their welfare and security will be topmost in the Renewed Hope Agenda of his government.

“In the last few days, the conventional and new media platforms have become awash with stories of the government intending to embark on conditional cash transfer to vulnerable households mostly affected by the painful but necessary decision to remove subsidy from petrol.

“The story has been widely reported that the Federal Government is proposing to give 12 million households from the poorest of the poor N8,000 monthly for a period of six months as government palliative to reduce the discomfort being experienced by Nigerians consequent upon subsidy removal.

“A lot of ill-informed imputations have been read into the programme by not a few naysayers. The Administration believes in the maxim that when there is prohibition, there must be provision. Since subsidy, the hydra-headed monster threatening to kill the economy, has been stopped, government has emplaced a broad spectrum of reliefs to bring help to Nigerians.

“While it should be noted that cash programme is not the only item in the whole gamut of relief package of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a listening leader who has vowed to always put Nigerians at the heart of his policy and programme, the President has directed as follows:-

“That the N8,000 conditional cash transfer programmed envisaged to bring succour to most vulnerable households be reviewed immediately. This is in deference to the views expressed by Nigerians against it.

“That the whole gamut of palliative package of government be unveiled to Nigerians.

“Immediate release of fertilisers and grains to approximately 50 million farmers and households respectively in all the 36 states and the FCT. The President further assures Nigerians that the N500 billion approved by parliament to cushion the pain occasioned by the end of subsidy regime will be judiciously utilised. The beneficiaries of the reliefs shall be Nigerians irrespective of their ethnic, religious or political affiliation.

“President Bola Tinubu has promised to always prioritize the wellbeing of Nigerians and he is irrevocably committed to the vow. A number of decisions taken so far by this Administration have buttressed this stance.

“You will recall that the President took a similar decision after listening to complaints from the business community/stakeholders about burdensome taxes, particularly multiplicity of taxes they are made to experience. This warranted the signing of four (4) Executive Orders cancelling some classes of taxes, while suspending the implementation dates of others. In addition, the President has also set up a Tax Reform/Fiscal Policy Committee to bring up recommendations that will engender a wholesome fiscal environment for the country and remove anti-business barriers.

“I wish to assure Nigerians that President Tinubu will continue to be a listening leader whose ears will not be dull to the views expressed by the citizenry. The President believes government exists to cater for the interest of the people and he has demonstrated this so clearly.”

As lamented by the NLC, it is important the Federal Government allow for broader consultations in its policies, particularly with regards to subsidy removal which would now demand adjustment in prices from time to time. The need to give proper attention to to make such consultation broader in scope is very important to come up with a palliative coverage that bears relevance to human face with all sense of appeals to reasonable compatibility to the prevailing situation on ground.

Hence, the presidential committee set up to deliberate on the terms of palliative should be reconstituted with broader stakeholders coverage to allow for deliberations with specific clarity outlined for its terms of reference. The committee should be convened to operate without bias, essentially to yield an outcome of plausible recommendations to address the strains which the subsidy removal may pose or is capable of posing on the country. This is important to avoid, for the nation, crises that may further breakdown the fabrics of development, and in all sense save the government of the day from turmoil that may be too costly for it to calm.