Reactions As Senate Approves Tinubu’s $800m Request For Social Safety Net

According to Channels Television, the Senate approved President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s proposal for an $800 million loan as supplementary funding for the National Social Safety Net Programme established by the National Assembly on Thursday.

The Senate also modified the Supplementary Budget for 2022.

This was in response to Tinubu’s request for approval. The President’s appeal was contained in a letter he delivered to the upper chamber the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and was read aloud on the Assembly floor during plenary session.

Tinubu said that the Federal Executive Council, led by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, had accepted an $800 million loan facility from the World Bank to fund the Social Safety Net Programme.

The President also stated that the facility’s objective was to enhance coverage of shock-responsive safety net supports for all and vulnerable Nigerians in order to pay for their basic needs.

As expected, this development elicited reactions on Twitter as it was shared by Channels Television on their official handle.

A Twitter user identified as Wizz Poll said, “How this money will be spent needs to be detailed to show it makes economic sense!.

Oscar Inspires said, “Give loans to SMES to encourage production; give grants to graduates and start-ups; step up security in rural areas to encourage farmers to go back to farming; cut down on the cost of governance to mitigate excessive budget deficits. Do these, and you rebuff the economy.”

Abubakar Ojima said, “This borrowing for direct consumption is not a good idea. It will keep us in perpetual debt. Why not divert the money to more productive programmes like SME or the repair of at least one of the three refineries?”

GCGentleOfficial (
)