Abuja - August 18 - (Mediaage NG News) – The Nigerian government on Wednesday approved the disbursement of 5bn naira ($6.5m; £5.1m) to all the 36 states of the country, including the federal capital for the purchase of food items for the poor.
It will also distribute bags of rice, maize and fertiliser, Governor Babagana Zulum of the north-western Borno state told the media after a National Economic Council meeting at the presidential villa in the capital, Abuja.
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The move is part of measures to curtail increase in cost of living, as a result of the fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu when he became president last May. Since then, petrol prices have risen by more than 200%, including food prices have more than doubled. This has led the president declaring a state of emergency over food insecurity last month and announcing measures to boost food security, small businesses, manufacturing and affordable transport.
In a televised broadcast weeks back, President Tinubu said the removal of subsidies had helped the government save more than 1tn naira ($1.2bn) and urged Nigerians to be patient while his government tried to improve the economy of the country.