AMID the growing misery of the vast majority of Nigerians following the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit and the rollout of other belt-tightening measures by the Federal Government, the three arms and levels of government are apparently having a swell time. Last week, it emerged that the federal, state and local governments had N1.9 trillion to share, a big improvement on previous allocations. However, the 36 state governors endorsed the proposal by the Federal Government not to share the entire revenue that accrued to the federation. Out of the June 2023 distributable revenue of N1.9 trillion, only N907 billion was distributed among the three tiers of government, while N790 billion was saved, and the rest used for statutory deductions. Subsequently, the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) announced the decision at its meeting in Abuja, an occasion during which President Bola Tinubu’s approval of the establishment of an Infrastructure Support Fund (ISF) for the 36 states of the federation as part of measures to cushion the effects of the petrol subsidy removal on the people was also announced.
The committee resolved to save a portion of the monthly distributable proceeds to minimise the impact of the increased revenues occasioned by the subsidy removal and exchange rate unification on money supply, as well as inflation and the exchange rate. The new infrastructure fund is to enable the states to intervene and invest in critical areas of transportation, including farm to market road improvements; agriculture, encompassing livestock and ranching solutions; health, with a focus on basic healthcare; education, especially basic education; power and water resources. The aim is to “improve economic competitiveness, create jobs and deliver economic prosperity for Nigerians.” According to the presidential spokesman, Dele Alake, the ISF and other measures are aimed at ensuring that the subsidy removal translates into tangible improvements in the lives and living standards of Nigerians.
Members of the National Assembly, on their part, got N70 billion budgeted to “support their working conditions.” According to the Senate spokesman, Yemi Adaramodu, the fund is meant for the purchase of furniture and to carry out repairs in the lawmakers’ offices. Hear him: “A visit to the suites, offices and the general structures of the National Assembly Complex would reveal a yawn and the need for exigent attention. Many senators had to bring their chairs, tables and electronics and, in many cases, do sundry repairs.” The Senate spokesman did not see the irony in his position in a country where the minimum wage remains N30,000. In any case, all federal lawmakers are to get exotic SUVs, preferably bullet-proof. Life couldn’t be more grand for the insensitive elite making laws for a populace trapped in squalor. Not left out, the judiciary got extra N30 billion, and the allowances and perks of the executive are quite huge, too.
Yes, the three levels of government shared the largest ever federal allocation, but what has been done for the long-suffering workers? Absolutely nothing. The government is foot-dragging on a new minimum wage for workers, which ought to have been announced long before now. Indeed, there is nothing to suggest that the increased allocation will be spent on those areas that will bring immediate succour to Nigerians. The removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira have expectedly resulted in huge increase in the revenue available to the governments in Nigeria even as they have engendered exacerbating suffering for most Nigerians who are left to bear the brunt of the decisions. We hope that in reality, the savings and increases in revenue will be devoted to ameliorating the worsening condition of living of Nigerians, not the usual indecent upkeep of those in government who are used to feeding fat on the national resources. The exploitation of the masses is reflected in the allocation of N70 billion to the National Assembly for repairs even as the judiciary also got N30 billion allocated to it in that regard.
Remarkably, nothing concrete has been done to ameliorate the suffering of ordinary Nigerians outside the announcement of an ineffectual cash transfer of N8,000 to some unidentifiable, poor Nigerians every month for six months which, thankfully, has now been shelved. Legislators, judges and members of the executive have been awarded huge amounts of money for their upkeep. The government will purchase glittering vehicles for them from the savings on fuel subsidy removal and the floating of the naira and yet ordinary Nigerians who largely bear the brunt of these measures have been left in the lurch with the promised increase in the national minimum wage that will probably take interminable days and months, if it will ever come. We hope that the government will realise that its main business is really about attending to the welfare of the people. Everything should be done to achieve this, and very quickly too.
and then