The Senate on Thursday approved $800 million World Bank loan request by President Bola Tinubu.
This followed the consideration of the loan by the Committee of the Whole during Thursday’s plenary.
It would be recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari had, towards the end of his administration, forwarded same request to the 9th Senate in May.
But the 9th Assembly could not consider the request before its tenure ended on June 11.
Tinubu, in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio earlier during plenary Thursday asked the 10th Senate to approve the same borrowing request.
The president, in the letter, explained that the loan would be used to scale up the National Social Safety Net Programme.
Tinubu’s letter reads: “Please note that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) led by President Muhammadu Buhari approved an additional loan facility to the tune of $800 million.
“This is to be secured from the World Bank for the National Social Safety Net programme. Copy of FEC’s extract attached.
“You may also wish to note that the purpose of the facility is to expand coverage of shock responsive safety net support among the poor and vulnerable Nigerians. This will assist them in coping with basic needs.
“You may further wish to note that under the conditional cash transfer window of the programme, the Federal Government of Nigeria will transfer the sum of N8,000 per month to 12 million poor and low income households.
“This is for a period of six months with a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals.
“In order to guarantee the credibility of the process, digital transfers will be made directly to beneficiaries’ accounts and mobile wallets.”
however, President Bola Tinubu has assured women in the country that his administration is committed to ensuring that Nigeria is retrieved from the vested interests that have stifled her development.
He also assured the women that issues of security, healthcare system and industrialization would be top on priorities of his administration.
President Tinubu spoke on Thursday at the State House when he received in audience the All Progressives Congress Women Leaders in the 36 States and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, led by the APC National Woman Leader, Dr. Betta Edu.
In a statement issued by Special Adviser to President on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Dele Alake , President Tinubu declared that his administration was already implementing many policies and programmes that would positively impact the citizens.
This, he stated, includes the Students’ Loan Scheme, which he said would ensure their children enjoy a stable academic calendar in their respective tertiary institutions.
“We have established a scholarship scheme that would guarantee their four years of tertiary education,” he further said.
“Security is paramount in my administration’s agenda because women bear the cost of insecurity anywhere in the world. Issues of insecurity are being discussed at the highest level and this administration will ensure that insecurity is halted immediately.
“Medicare is another. We will ensure that health facilities are revamped and we will pursue this with vigour. Industrialization is yet another priority as your children and relations will gain employment,” President Tinubu stated.
While appreciating the women leaders for the visit, President Tinubu praised them for their support during the campaigns and elections, adding that they all deserve awards for their efforts.
“You all deserve gold medals because you worked so hard politically, overcoming so many obstacles like the fuel scarcity and Naira ‘confiscation,’ promising that their children would receive better rewards as their future is now guaranteed with the initiatives being put in place.”
With his new role as ECOWAS Chairman, President Tinubu told the visiting women that though his emergence would place on him additional responsibility, it would spur him to work even harder.
“We will continue to strive for a better Nigeria. You will not regret your confidence in this administration.”
Reaffirming his administration’s open-door policy, President Tinubu explained that the unity of the country is essential and central to his mind.
He advised the women leaders to be accommodating of others from other parties, who, having seen the silver lining and the brighter future that lie ahead, are now willing to come on board.
He tasked the APC women leaders to educate the citizens on the policies and programmes of his administration with the awareness that the present difficulties are temporary.
“You understand better, you are better coordinators, you know how to multi-task. The gains of the subsidy removal will be channeled to better the lives of Nigerians from the few that have been fleecing the nation,” the President said.
Earlier, APC National Woman Leader Edu stated that the women had come to congratulate the President on his victory at the polls, for the several good policies of his administration and for his election as ECOWAS Chairman at the last Summit.
The National Woman Leader enumerated the sterling records of the President as Governor of Lagos State which had endeared him to Nigerians.
These, Dr. Edu stated, include the unprecedented economic development of the state and infrastructural developments.
The APC Woman leader appealed to the President to consider more women in appointments into government positions.
.Declares state of emergency on food security
Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday, declared a state of emergency on food security in the country
Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, disclosed this to State House Correspondents after consultations with key stakeholders in the agricultural sector at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to Alake, Tinubu also approved that all matters pertaining to food and water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council.
This is followed by an immediate release of fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.
Alake said “We will immediately release fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.
“There will be an organic synergy between the Ministry of Agriculture and the use of water resources to ensure adequate irrigation of farmlands and to guarantee that food is available all year round.
“As a country, Mr. President has made it clear that we are no longer comfortable with seasonal farming. We can no longer afford to have farming downtime.”
The Presidential aide explained that the Federal Government will partner with states to create ranches in those that are willing to avail lands. The ranches will have sections dedicated as grazing reserves, he added.
“We will establish ranches in collaboration with state government and the federal government will pay for the land,” he said.
Alake explained that the FG will activate land banks nationwide, which currently stand at 500,000 hectares mapped “to increase the availability of arable land for farming which will immediately impact food output.”
He added, “The government will also collaborate with mechanization companies to clear more forests & make them available for farming
“There are currently 11 rivers basins that will ensure planting of crops during the dry season with irrigation schemes that will guarantee continuous farming production all year round, to stem the seasonal glut and scarcity that we usually experience.
“We will deploy concessionary capital/funding to the sector especially towards fertilizer, processing, mechanization, seeds, chemicals, equipment, feed, labour, etc.
“The concessionary funds will ensure food is always available and affordable thereby having a direct impact on Nigeria’s Human Capital Index (HCI). This administration is focused on ensuring the HCI numbers, which currently ranks as the 3rd lowest in the world, are improved for increased productivity.”
. Palliative of N53 per day is an avenue to divert public funds, buy votes– Atiku
In a swift reaction ,the Special Assistant on Public Communications to Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, has described President Bola Tinubu’s plan to hand out N8,000 to 12 million households for six months as a brazen attempt to divert public funds.
Shaibu said in a statement that Tinubu’s plan to spend $800m on palliatives under an opaque arrangement was reminiscent of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s conditional cash transfer and COVID-19 intervention initiative which saw politicians keeping food items and provisions in their homes while the poor went hungry.
He said Buhari’s interventionist programmes only ended up making Nigerians poorer as shown in reports released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
Atiku’s aide stated, “After announcing the removal of petrol subsidy without proper planning, Tinubu has asked for the approval of $800m loan which he claims will be disbursed to 12 million households for six months at N8,000 for each household per month. This is a continuation of the scam of the All Progressives Congress.
According to statistics, a Nigerian household as at 2019 counted on an average of 5.06 members. So, with Tinubu’s uninspiring plan, each individual in a household will get N1,600 per month or N53 per day. What should they do with it? Use the money to buy sachet (pure) water or a cup of boiled groundnut on a daily basis? And this is the man they claim transformed the economy of Lagos State? This must be a joke or a more sinister attempt to divert public funds.
Shaibu argued that Tinubu lacked a clear economic policy apart from taxing Nigerians.
He said having deceptively attained presidential power, Tinubu has been exposed as an economic illiterate.
Atiku’s aide stated, “Tinubu boasted that he would ‘develop Nigeria’s economy’ like that of Lagos but this was all a scam. Statistics show that over 70% of Lagos revenue comes from income tax paid by private companies which had been in Lagos for decades due to its status as Nigeria’s former capital.
“His only plan is to tax Nigerians to death as he did in Lagos and that is why the people of Lagos rejected him in the last election. Tinubu promised to turn Nigeria’s economy into a $1 trillion economy but it is all a scam and can never be achieved with his brand of “agberonomics”.
Shaibu said Tinubu ought to have focused on putting money into the agricultural sector and subsidizing production and working at attaining energy security that is the backbone of spurring desired economic growth from SMEs if he was really serious about reviving the economy.
He added, “Agriculture makes up about 30% of Nigeria’s GDP. He should have invested funds in the production aspect of agriculture and other issues affecting crop yields. The rural areas which are mostly agrarian are in the throes of insecurity. On Tinubu’s watch, over 200 people have so far been killed. However, he seems clueless on how to tackle this menace.
“The so-called palliatives that Tinubu seeks to share to the poor are just another avenue to divert public funds. For years, the Nigerian government has rejected calls to publish the list of the beneficiaries of the so-called palliatives but this has never been done because it is all a scam.
“Tinubu should stop trying to deceive Nigerians who are still suffering from the effect of his lackluster economic policies.”
There are also concerns that this plan is a reinvention of old tricks through which the APC uses public funds as subterfuge for vote buying.
Let no one make any mistakes about it, the planned palliative is Trader Moni 2.0. “The scheme is nothing but a means to use public funds to prosecute political campaigns and objectives. It is even more telling that the current imposter government is contemplating the initiative when there is high expectation that the presidential election tribunal is set to give judgement in the controversial election that brought Tinubu into government.
The APC is a political party that has lost favour with a vast majority of Nigeria, and it is no coincidence that since 2019 when the party invented the charade of Trader Moni, it also incontrovertibly introduced the menace of vote buying into Nigeria’s body politic.
A special investigation into the Trader Moni initiative by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari revealed that more than N20bn was wasted on corruption, kickbacks, fraud and partisanship.
