Revealed: Tinubu’s palliative scheme labelled fraud, details emerge

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's palliative exercise to send N8,000 to 12 million low-income households for the next six months has been described as another fraudulent scheme to divert public funds.

This allegation was made by Phrank Shauibu, the special assistant on public communication to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku, Abubakar.

President Bola Tinubu’s N500bn request for palliatives was approved at plenary on Thursday, July 13.

According to the statement made available to Legit.ng on Friday, July 13, Shuaibu likened Tinubu's plea for $800m loan for palliative to that of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari COVIID-19 intervention funds which saw politicians keeping food items and provisions in their homes while people experiencing poverty went hungry.

He said: "After announcing the removal of petrol subsidy without proper planning, Tinubu has asked for the approval of $800m loan which he claims will be disbursed to 12 million households for six months at N8,000 for each household per month. This is a continuation of the scam of the All Progressives Congress."

Shaibu argued that Tinubu lacked a clear economic policy apart from taxing Nigerians. He said having deceptively attained presidential power, Tinubu has been exposed as an economic illiterate.

Shuaibu said: “Tinubu boasted that he would ‘develop Nigeria’s economy’ like that of Lagos but this was all a scam. Statistics show that over 70% of Lagos revenue comes from income tax paid by private companies which had been in Lagos for decades due to its status as Nigeria’s former capital.

“His only plan is to tax Nigerians to death as he did in Lagos and that is why the people of Lagos rejected him in the last election. Tinubu promised to turn Nigeria’s economy into a $1 trillion economy but it is all a scam and can never be achieved with his brand of "agberonomics".

He urged Tinubu to focus on agricultural development and subsidising production, and working at attaining energy security that is the backbone of spurring desired economic growth from SMEs if he was serious about reviving the economy.

He added: “Agriculture makes up about 30% of Nigeria’s GDP. He should have invested funds in the production aspect of agriculture and other issues affecting crop yields. The rural areas which are mostly agrarian are in the throes of insecurity.

“The so-called palliatives that Tinubu seeks to share to the poor are just another avenue to divert public funds. For years, the Nigerian government has rejected calls to publish the list of the beneficiaries of the so-called palliatives but this has never been done because it is all a scam."