FG to pay Nigerians transport allowance

<p><strong>The <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;Openlife&period;ng">Federal Government<&sol;a> has announced that Nigerians will be paid <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;OpenLife&period;ng">transport allowance<&sol;a> after the removal of fuel subsidies&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Zainab Ahmed&comma; minister of finance made this known while speaking with <em>Channels Television<&sol;em>&comma; adding that fuel subsidy is costing Nigeria resources that should have been used for education and health&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>She noted that it’s crucial for the country to exit from the fuel subsidy regime in 2023&comma; stressing that the process of subsidising petrol is a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;major drain and waste” on Nigeria’s economy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Asked if the government is prepared for the rejection of fuel subsidy removal by labour unions and Nigerians&comma; the minister said the government is planning the deployment of compressed natural gas &lpar;CNG&rpar; vehicles as an alternative to petrol-aided vehicles&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ahmed also mentioned that the federal government is considering the payment of transport allowance to Nigerians for six or 12 months to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;efcc-arrests-former-edo-governor-lucky-igbinedion&sol;"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0000ff&semi;">EFCC Arrests Former Edo Governor&comma; Lucky Igbinedion<&sol;span><&sol;a><&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p>She disclosed that the transport allowance will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of the right people through the help of a bank verification number and national identity number&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Right now we are negotiating with labour&period; We are planning and deploying CNG — which is an alternative to mass transit to PMS&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;But we’re also looking at providing some palliatives for a large number of the population in terms of maybe a transport subsidy for a short period like six months or if it is long&comma; maybe nine months or maximum 12 months&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This Transport subsidy would be given directly to individuals&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The minister added that they are constrained at the moment due to the ongoing national identity registration process&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This is to enable us make transfers to people using their BVNs&comma; account number and national identity number&comma; and we know that it has gone to the right people&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;That is part of the things we’re negotiating and working on&period; We are also engaging with the World Bank in designing a programme that will help us to provide succour for at least a minimum of 6 months&comma; maximum of 12 months to enable us to make that transition&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Asked when the fuel subsidy regime would end&comma; she mentioned that the government made provision for fuel subsidy in the budget till June 2022&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;If you look at what I said earlier&comma; as of July 2022&comma; there is no provision for fuel subsidy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We’re trying to see if we can make it earlier&period; If we are able to get the funding to provide this alternative transport allowance&comma; then we will be able to make it earlier&comma;” the minister noted&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Daily Post<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;