The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) have criticized President Bola Tinubu's proposal to provide cash palliatives of N8,000 to 12 million people.

The President requested permission to borrow $800 million from the World Bank in a letter to the National Assembly on Thursday.

To mitigate the effects of the elimination of fuel subsidies, he stated that the funds would be paid directly to the accounts of recognized impoverished people.

Both labour unions responded to the action by claiming that Tinubu was going against the recommendations made by the Presidential Technical Committee about the elimination of subsidies.

The NLC and TUC contend that it was not only undemocratic but also demonstrated the President's use of the committee's inauguration as a mere prop for his agenda.

A senior officer of NLC who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “The issue is whether the President has trust and confidence in the Steering Committee set up or not. If he has a budget already, it means that he already has activities he has planned on his own. If he has that, what is the need of the Committees? The action of the President has undermined the credibility of his own Committee

“We believe that it is not only undemocratic but shows that the President is merely setting up the committee as a window dressing for whatever purposes he has set out for himself.

“When you also look at what he has planned, to give N8,000 to households for six months which approximates to N48, 000, you ask yourself, can N48,000 address the millions of suffering the government has already inflicted on the poor? 

“Will it make any significant impact in addressing the consequences already being faced by Nigerians? Will the suffering suddenly end after six months?”

Festus Osifo, who serves as both the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, simply stated, “Any palliative payment must be in line with the agreement reached with labour in line with the technical committee meeting.”