The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has rejected the Federal Government’s plan to replace fuel subsidy with payment of N5,000 monthly transport grant to poor Nigerians.
In a statement released on Thursday by National Coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko and Media Affairs Director Zainab Yusuf HURIWA said President Muhammadu Buhari’s insistence on implementing rigid economic adjustment programmes recommended by world bodies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would lead to chaos in Nigeria.
The group said practical evidence shows that Nigeria became the world’s poverty capital in 2018 with over 90 million people despite the Federal Government’s cash transfer programme.
Urging Nigerians to reject the plan, HURIWA warned that it would lead to an astronomic hike in the fuel pump price.
“We urge Nigerians to speak out and reject this attempt at spreading toxic economic hardships as is being packaged by President Buhari with the support of IMF to pull out fuel subsidy. This government is the most recklessly corrupt, lawless and thieving administration since Nigeria’s amalgamation in 1914,” the statement said.
The human rights group warned that a hike in the fuel pump price would affect the cost of goods and services, thereby further impoverishing millions of Nigerians.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed had said the Nigerian government plans to remove fuel subsidy in 2022 and cushion the effect by paying N5,000 monthly transportation grant to 40 million Nigerians.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had also rejected the plan.
In the meantime, the Senate said the plan to pay N5,000 transport grant to 40 million Nigerians was not captured in the proposed 2022 budget.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance Adeola Olamilekan Solomon disclosed this to newsmen at the National Assembly in Abuja yesterday.
