…Nigerians query implementation model
…As ADC scoffs at Tinubu’s N50,000 cash relief as election gimmick
From this month, most vulnerable Nigerian families are going to witness temporary relief from the sustained impact of the economic hardship.
If things go according to the Federal Government’s plans, the citizens will enjoy a 90-day economic action plan, which the government said is aimed at reducing the impact of the high cost of living, improving food affordability and attracting investment across Nigeria.
While details of the plan, which was proposed by the Federal Ministry of Finance and endorsed by the National Economic Council at its 161st meeting, are yet to be disclosed, observers think that it is the government’s forced acknowledgement of the heavy burden its reforms have placed on the masses.
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According to them, the government and even some international bodies have been praising the economic reforms of this administration, but it has been a different reality for the people, whom the reforms are supposed to serve.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has also been vocal on the issue, while insisting that the people want concrete measures to tackle rising living costs, declining purchasing power and widespread poverty, not temporary palliatives.
“Our response to the federal government’s so-called 90-day plan to ease the cost of living is unambiguous. This plan is not a remedy; it is a confession. It is the government’s tacit admission, finally dragged out of it by the sheer weight of popular suffering, that its policies of the past four years have afflicted the Nigerian people rather than improved their lives,” Chris Onyeka, assistant general secretary, NLC, said.
“For years, the government denied that its reforms were producing pain. Various ministers told us there was no suffering while other official spokespeople insisted the economy was on the right track. Now, with the announcement of a 90-day cost-of-living plan, the government has conceded the obvious; something is deeply wrong, and it was caused by the very policies it once defended”.
In his opinion, Phillip Aigbe, an economist and senior lecturer at a Southern African university, decried that the three-month relief will make less impact on people who have been under the heavy weight of the economic reforms for almost four years now, rather than a permanent solution, such as tackling inflation, increasing productivity, increasing crude oil production and offering local refineries cheaper crude to impact pump prices.
“No reform will make sense if it does not translate into better living conditions for the people. I don’t think the current reforms have entirely impacted; if not, there would not have been a need for the three-month palliatives for the people. We need permanent solutions, a review of the reform and adoption of what can work for us,” Aigbe said.
Also looking at the possible impact of the temporary relief, Aigbe argued that initiatives such as cash transfers, petrol discounts and soft loans have not worked because of the huge depth of the suffering in the land and poor implementation.
“I am wondering how the relief will work without being hijacked by favouritism, corruption and political considerations. The government should not start what it cannot finish or another controversial palliative measure,” he urged.
Also speaking from an expert view, Onyewuchi Akagbule, another economist, argued that if the success of economic policies should be measured by their impact on people’s daily lives, the current reforms have not made much impact as poverty is on the increase.
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“The government needs to face the reality. It is not about politics but the fact that the reforms have not yielded the expected results and may not because of the wastage going on when the government is shouting reforms,” he said.
“During their first year in office, they asked for time; in the second year, they asked for more time, and so on. How much time do we need to give them to turn things around for the good of Nigerians?” He asked.
The best relief and permanent solutions, according to him, include beating down inflation, forcing down petrol prices, reducing taxes on essential commodities and ensuring security for farming and more food production.
He is also worried about how the government will implement the relief packages equitably across the country and how it will capture the expended funds.
But Yakubu Pam, a retired security officer, decried that the government is back with another ploy and at the wrong time.
According to him, the three-month palliatives are the least of Nigerians’ problems, when those who can farm and feed themselves cannot do so due to the escalating insecurity, and businesses scale down in some parts of the country also because of safety issues.
Pam lamented that the killings have continued in Plateau, Kaduna and Benue communities, with the addition of Taraba recently.
“Can the ruling party boldly go to these areas for campaigns? What will they tell the families whose members are in captivity or have died in the hands of terrorists despite the many promises by the government and security agencies?
“So, instead of the three-month palliatives, my relatives and other family members in Mangu, Pankshin and other trouble spots are asking for three-month peace. They don’t want to wake up to the cries of displaced families, sacked villages and people mourning their dead anymore,” he said.
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Sam Onikoyi, a Nigerian academic, thinks that the country should not go the quick fixes route, which he decried, has not helped in addressing any issue in the past.
“The 90-day plan is a quick fix. We have witnessed such in the recent past, and it did not solve any problem. The palliative fund, rice and other items have never been accounted for today because they were looted,” he said.
He further argued that the three-month relief cannot reduce the high cost of living as other economic and business variables are involved.
“Is the government going to fix prices of items for three months? Are transporters going to be forced to reduce fares when petrol prices are increasing, and will landlords and schools also reduce rents and fees?
“It is going to be an impossible quick fix. I think the government should know better than to play politics with it,” he said.
Toeing the same line, Ter Ngueseh, a chartered auditor, said that the quick fix is part of the desperation by the ruling party to win the 2027 general elections at all costs.
“If not in desperation to win at all costs, why would a government go into such an unfeasible project? It is not all about announcing the plan; how are you going to execute that?” He asked.
He thinks that the ruling party is looking for a way to mop up funds for its campaigns, no matter how small and that the 90-day plan is one of them.
“They will allocate the resources, execute their plans, and whatever amount they claim to be expended is what will be in the public domain,” he said.
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Ngueseh decried that the timing is also wrong, as whatever intention the government may have would be misinterpreted as a political campaign for the 2027 elections.
“Why now? He asked. “Petrol discount, transportation allowances, 90-day palliatives and others are all coming at the peak of the political campaign. They should have been when the people would see no political undertone attached to them,” he said.
In his view, Tiri Braimoh, a politician, noted that the government has not done anything wrong by introducing palliative measures now, especially as the people asked for them.
“Yes, we campaign, and there is nothing wrong with using palliatives to woo votes from the masses,” he said.
“If you say the government should not give petrol discounts or palliatives, don’t collect them; others will jump at them because they are a relief no matter how small the impact”.
Braimoh, an Alimosho Lagos-based politician, noted that all parties are doing the same, but in different ways and magnitudes.
“When PDP was in power, we were in opposition then and I know what we suffered. So, we are taking advantage of our advantage, and I don’t see anything wrong with that. Collect the palliatives and vote for us,” he said.
Hassana Ige-Daodu, a women market leader, also argued that those who reject the palliatives are not doing the government any favour, as it has the right to campaign like other parties and with whatever it can lay its hands on.
“We give palliatives; they said it is temporary. What are others giving? Collect the temporary one now, the permanent one is coming soon,” she assured.
However, most observers see the planned relief as another set of promises that will end with the campaigns for the 2027 elections.
They urged the government to go for permanent solutions, which will save it from pressure and constant face-offs with the NLC and the people.
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N50,000 cash relief election gimmick — ADC
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has also accused President Tinubu of introducing the proposed N50,000 monthly cash relief for vulnerable Nigerians as an election gimmick aimed at regaining public support ahead of the 2027 general election.
Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, alleged that the initiative was a desperate attempt to win back Nigerians angered by the administration’s economic policies.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Abdullahi said the timing of the intervention raised questions about the government’s intentions, particularly as the opposition party had made affordability and the rising cost of living central to its campaign.
“President Tinubu is in full panic mode now. Since the ADC and our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, have made affordability and reducing the cost of living the cardinal focus of our campaign, the government has been announcing one desperate intervention or another,” he said.
Abdullahi described the proposed payment as an election-season handout, questioning its purchasing power amid rising food, transportation, fuel and healthcare costs.
He also questioned the transparency of previous social intervention programmes, alleging that billions of naira allocated to cash transfers remained unaccounted for.
The ADC challenged the Federal Government to explain the utilisation of previous intervention funds, warning that the new programme could become another avenue for financial diversion.
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