Nigeria's Tinubu seeks lawmakers approval for $800 million World Bank loan
, which had previously been approved by the government of former President Muhammadu Buhari, to help scale up the National Social Safety Net Programme, according to a letter to lawmakers.
"The purpose of the facility is to expand coverage of shock responsive safety net support among the poor and vulnerable Nigerians," Tinubu said, adding that 12 million poor households will be paid 8,000 naira per month for six months, "with a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals." Dele Alake, a spokesman for the president, said the government will distribute free grains and fertilizers to poor households and subsistence farmers, while large-scale farmers will get them for a discount as part of immediate measures to curb the impact of scrapping the subsidy., with details expected to be finalised next month when talks with the main labour unions are set to be concluded.
The subsidy had kept prices cheap for decades but had become increasingly expensive - it cost the government $10 billion last year - leading to wider budget deficits and driving up government debt. The House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, also approved on Thursday Tinubu's request to amend the 2022 supplementary budget to allow the government to spend 500 billion naira to "cushion the effects of the removal of fuel subsidy.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Nigeria: Subsidy Removal - Tinubu Writes Reps, Seeks N500bn for PalliativesMr Tinubu seeks to extract N500 billion from the N819,536,937,813 supplementary budget submitted to the legislature by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Read more »
Nigeria: Woodberry Jailed Eight Years in U.S., Faces Deportation to Nigeria Empty-HandedWoodberry, an ally of Hushpuppi, pleaded guilty to defrauding at least seven companies of over $8 million in less than one year.
Read more »
Nigeria: In Nigeria, UN Deputy Chief and Malala Champion Girls' Right to EducationMore than 120 million girls are out of school and the world must do more to ensure they can get an education, Nobel laureate and UN Messenger of Peace Malala Yousafzai said in Abuja, Nigeria on Wednesday, her 26th birthday.
Read more »
Nobel Laureate Calls for Action on Girls' Education in NigeriaThe Nobel laureate and Pakistani female education activist Malala Yousafzai is in Nigeria, accompanied by UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed. Malala called for global action to support girls' education in Nigeria, including providing funding for schools and teachers and working to end the violence that prevents girls from going to school. Nigeria has one of the highest rates of out-of-school children in the world, with over 10 million girls not in school. The Boko Haram insurgency has had a devastating impact on girls' education in Nigeria, with over 2,000 girls abducted from their schools since 2014. Malala praised global initiatives to boost education and gender equality, which will help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of quality education for all by 2030. Yet she again stressed that "this handful of victories can't hide how little has changed for hundreds of millions of girls", including the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. Malala has made three trips to Nigeria alone, meeting with activists and young women, and also with parents whose daughters were among the 276 girls abducted in the Chibok school kidnapping in 2014. She will be celebrating her 26th birthday while in Nigeria.
Read more »
Zambia focused on football ahead of first Women's World Cup campaign - SABC NewsZambia will be focusing resolutely on the football in their first appearance at the Women's World Cup, captain Barbra Banda said on the squad's arrival in New Zealand on Wednesday.
Read more »
Credit rating firm S&P Global sees positive signs in Nigeria, KenyaNigeria and Kenya have both had positive economic policy developments in the last couple of months, one of S&P Global's top sovereign rating analysts said on Tuesday, adding that South Africa was a slow-moving story of steadily rising debt to GDP.
Read more »