Governor Peter Mbah says his government has rolled out palliatives to mitigate the economic hardship fuelled by President Bola Tinubu’s petrol subsidy removal.

The governor disclosed this on Monday in Enugu while inaugurating a committee for procuring, storing and distributing relief items to Enugu residents.

He charged committee members, chaired by Deputy Governor Ifeanyi Ossai, to handle the palliatives with transparency while ensuring the speedy distribution of the items to those in dire need.

Also, committee members include the chairman of the Association of Local Governments in Nigeria (ALGON) in Enugu, the chairman of Nkanu East council area, Okechukwu Edeh. ALGON deputy chairman and chairman of Uzo Uwani LGA, Chukwudi Nnadozie, chairman of Awgu LGA, Pedro Nwankwo and Enugu East LGA chair Livinus Anike.

Others are the special adviser to the governor on agriculture, Mike Ogbuekwe, programme manager of Enugu State Agricultural Development Programme (ENADEP), Ogbonna Onyeisi, and the head of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Chinasa Mbah.

Mr Mbah, who acknowledged the harsh impact of the fuel subsidy on the people, further said that the subsidy removal would immensely benefit Nigerians in the long run.

While maintaining that he shared Nigerians’ pains, Mr Mbah hoped the palliatives would help alleviate their hardships. He also urged the committee to spare no time in ensuring that the palliatives were sent to “homes of those that need them the most in the state.”

The Enugu governor said, “You recall that a few months ago, the federal government of Nigeria removed the fuel subsidy. And as you know, that came with pains, shared pains, even though we believe in the long run, it will be beneficial to the country. The question for us now as leaders is, how do we mitigate those shared pains that our people are going to be exposed to?”

He added, “It is part of what we are doing to see how we can begin to cushion the effects of some of these pains. So, what we are doing now is to see how to fix the pains people are going through, and there are also plans for short and medium-term solutions, and that we are going to do in due course.”

The governor further charged the committee to ensure that the palliatives got to the people who deserved it and that it was distributed quickly and transparently.

(NAN)