it offered to each state as a palliative to cushion the impact of the petrol subsidy removal.
In August, the federal government announced a N5 billion palliative package for each state of the federation, including the federal capital territory , to cushion the impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy.to procure 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize and fertilizers, to cushion the effect of food shortage across the country.
“And of course, although the sum of 5 billion is earmarked, you will agree with me that to release such funds across all the states all at once will be self-defeating because it will lead to an inflationary spiral. It will lead to the cost of goods being sold going up and it will affect the exchange rate.“And so, it is N2 billion that has been released as an initial intervention and FCT will be included is the information that I have.
“On one hand, it is by increasing tax revenue, not by increasing taxes necessarily, but by bringing greater efficiency., and it aims to bring greater efficiency to cut leakages and maximise the legitimate revenue that should come to the government.