The Nigerian government has approved a total of 180 billion naira ($235 million) for its subnational units— 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory— to procure rice and maize to cushion the effects of food shortages across the country and hardship caused by recent reforms, particularly the currency float and removal of subsidy on petrol.

At the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja presided over by Vice President Kashim Shetimma, it was announced that each state would receive 5 billion naira.

The fund will be split between a grant and a loan with a two-year repayment period, to purchase 100,000 trucks of rice and 40,000 trucks of maize.

“NEC … expressed serious concerns regarding increasing costs of food items, increasing costs of transportation, amongst others as a result of subsidy removal,” Borneo Governor, Babagana Zulum, told reporters.

Meanwhile, organised labour has criticized the Federal Government for its N180bn palliative package to states on the grounds that the governors could not be trusted, noting that politicians and not the poor would benefit from the N5bn given to each state government for disbursement to the citizens.

The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the governors could not be trusted, as most of them were not paying minimum wage, adding that no committee was established to ensure the successful implementation of the initiative.

“N5bn multiplied by 36 states is going to give you N180bn. So if you divide that with the official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, which says that 133 million Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor, and calculate it, you will get about N2,000 each for those who are poor. Ajero argued.

Since the removal of fuel subsidies, there has been back and forth between the government and organized labour on the best approach to manage the fallout of the policy.