Subsidy removal: Jigawa approves N3.8bn for purchase of grains as palliatives

The Jigawa government says it has approved N3.8 billion to procure grains that would be distributed to the poor and vulnerable persons in the state.

Sagir Musa, commissioner for information, youths, sports and culture, spoke in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa, on Wednesday at the end of the state’s executive council meeting.

Musa said N167 million has been earmarked for the payment of tuition fees of indigenous undergraduate students in various higher institutions of learning.

He said the registration fees were paid for students studying different courses at Federal University Dutse, Bayero University, Kano, Kano State University of Science and Technology and University of Maiduguri, in Borno.

“The SEC today during its deliberations approved additional procurement of food items for distribution across the 27 Local Government Areas in the state, as a measure to reduce hardship caused by the fuel subsidy removal,” NAN quoted Musa as saying.

“The council has approved the procurement of 70 trucks of rice (each truck with 600 bags), millet and maize, 54 trucks (each truck with 600 bags) and 1,000 cartons of pasta for distribution through the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) totalling N3,848,000.00 only.

“And the procurement is jointly financed by federal, state and local governments.”

The commissioner said N1 billion was also approved by the council as a loan to the Jigawa Agricultural Supply Company (JASCO), for the procurement of 54 tractors for farmers in the state.

“The loan will assist smallholder farmers to access tractor hiring services (THS) to be reintroduced through the LGAs, to promote mechanised farming,” he said.

He added that the loan is to boost agriculture and productivity in the state.