N5bn: FCT mulls transport, food palliatives for residents

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N5bn: FCT mulls transport, food palliatives for residents

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Nyesom Wike, said his administration had yet to decide on how to expend the N5bn palliative fund expected from the Federal Government.

This was as he stated that his administration might consider transportation and food support while noting that efforts were ongoing to bring back urban mass transportation to the FCT to reduce residents’ suffering in terms of transportation.

Wike revealed the development to pressmen in Abuja on Monday night, after a closed-door meeting with contractors handling several projects in the FCT.

“We are yet to decide on what to do with the N5bn palliative. We have not chosen any area yet. Are we going to concentrate on food? But we are thinking that the issue of transportation is very important, particularly the urban mass transit.

“People would like to have easy transportation to go to where they want to go, and if you give them rice and they eat the rice today, what about transportation tomorrow?

“So, we have not come up with what actually we are going to use the money for, but I believe food support and transportation is very key,” Wike said.

The PUNCH reports that the Federal Government had on August 17 announced a N5bn palliative for each state of the federation, including the FCT, to cushion the impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy.

Some state governments have confirmed receiving N2bn from the amount while awaiting the N3bn balance.

Meanwhile, Wike noted that the FCT was not earlier included in the disbursement of the N5bn palliative funds until he wrote a memo informing President Bola Tinubu of the development.

He, however, added that President Tinubu had approved the amount, noting that other states had received N2bn already while expressing confidence that the FCTA will equally soon receive its own.