The Ondo government has set up a nine-man committee to strategise on palliatives to help cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal on residents in the state. 

Acting governor of the state, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, announced the committee members while presiding over the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting on Thursday, in Akure. 

Mr Aiyeatiwa said the current administration would continue to place a premium on the welfare of the people in the 18 council areas of the state. 

The committee will be headed by the Chief of Staff to Governor, Olugbenga Ale, and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, Bayo Philips, will serve as secretary. 

Briefing journalists after the SEC meeting, Commissioner of Economic Planning and Budget, Emmanuel Igbasan, said the government constituted the committee to help remedy the excruciating effects of fuel subsidy removal within available resources.

Mr Igbasan identified other members of the committee as the State of Head of Service, Kayode Ogundele; Commissioner of Finance, Wale Akinterinwa; SA on Education, Wunmi Ilawole; SA on Union Matters and Special Duties, Dare Aragbaye; SA on Transport, Tobi Ogunleye, and the Chairman of ODIRS, Tolu Adegbie.

The move by the state government came after President Bola Tinubu wrote the National Assembly over $800 million in loans to fund the national social safety net programme aimed to provide palliative measures to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal. 

With the breakdown, the loan is expected to provide N8,000 (approximately $10) to support struggling families registered under the federal government’s National Register (NSR) as a monthly stipend to twelve million families in the country. 

Mr Tinubu’s government has come under heavy criticisms from Nigerians who fear that the latest move might be a ploy to divert public funds. 

Many netizens have compared Mr Tinubu’s plan with that of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s conditional cash transfer and the COVID-19 intervention initiative, which saw corrupt politicians hoarding food grains and provisions in their private homes. 

Recall that Mr Tinubu, shortly after being sworn in on May 29, declared that the government would no longer pay fuel subsidies, arguing that the policy only favoured wealthy Nigerians.