Tinubu govt discards Buhari’s National Social Register, says it lacks integrity

The National Economic Council (NEC) says the National Social Register compiled by the Muhammadu Buhari administration lacked integrity and has been discarded.

In the alternative, the Council is to use the social registers compiled by the states for cash transfers and cash reward policy for public servants for six months.

The decision was reached at the end of a five-hour meeting of the council chaired by Vice-President Kashim Shettima held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Briefing State House correspondents, Anambra State Gov. Charles Soludo flanked by Governors of Bauchi, Bala Mohammed and Ogun’s Dapo Abiodun.

Soludo said NEC resolved that the states should come up with their own registers using formal and informal means to develop it, adding that all beneficiaries at the sub-national level (states) can easily be accessed.

“We need to face the fact that we don’t have a credible national register,” he said.

On what was discussed at the meeting, Soludo said ways to cushion the impact of the recent petroleum subsidy removal were among the issues deliberated upon.

The council also stressed the need to pay outstanding liabilities of public servants, including pensions and gratuities in a bid to alleviate their hardships.

“Council also agreed that government will focus on funding Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with single-digit interest rates to support business growth.

“It also agreed to the immediate implementation of the Energy Transition Plan was discussed, focusing on transitioning to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for mass transit vehicles to reduce reliance on petrol.

“The council deliberated that government aims to set up manufacturing and assembly plants for electric vehicles (EVs) in each zone in the country in the long term, but in the meantime, to encourage the conversion to CNG to create employment and reduce petrol dependency.

“The council also addressed food security and food price escalation by allocating buffer stocks of grains for distribution to states which they can choose to sell them at a subsidized rate or distribute them for free to ease the burden on citizens,” Soludo said.