Founder and bishop of Christian Central Chapel International, Gospel Emmah Isong, has faulted the Federal Government’s proposed N8, 000 palliative to cushion the effect of the petrol subsidy removal.
Isong, who is the Publicity Secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), spoke at a thanksgiving service to mark the first year anniversary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cross River State Council, yesterday, in Calabar.
The Federal Government, last week, announced that it had transmitted a supplementary budget proposal to the House of Representatives for approval, which included money for the palliative.
But, during his sermon, Isong decried the proposed stipend to vulnerable Nigerians, saying he had expected the government to rather buy enough vehicles and put them on the roads to alleviate the suffering of the masses.
He noted that the Federal Government’s proposal was indicative of its level of unpreparedness before embarking on the subsidy removal policy. The cleric expressed doubt that the money would even get to intended beneficiaries.
He said: “The removal of petrol subsidy is not the problem. I’m an economist; successive administrations had promised to remove it. If you knew the shenanigan and politics in subsidy payments, you would remove it if you were in power. Maybe, the way it was removed and lack of strategic plans, which include palliatives, are the bane of the policy.
“In my view, I never believed in the proposed N8, 000 palliative. If you give me the N500 billion, I know what to do with it; any intelligent Nigerian would deploy it in critical sectors of the economy such that the impact of the policy would not be heavy on Nigerians. N500 billion can address the problem of poverty if properly deployed. Government can buy enough vehicles, so that public transportation can be subsidised for ordinary citizens.
Wondering how potential beneficiaries would be selected across the country, Isong, who is also the patron of the state’s Council of NUJ, called on media practitioners to also protect the interest of the masses in their reportage.
“If you give palliatives to the education and health sectors, including rural areas, the effect of the subsidy removal would be reduced. We don’t even know the beneficiaries of the N8, 000, how they would be selected. As an economist, I feel sharing money to Nigerians is a ‘wrong medicine to the right patient.’ Some beneficiaries would finish the money in a few days. They may even use it on their bad habits, and it would never have an anticipated effect.”
