Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives has charged the Federal Government to disburse the sum of N5billion to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in each of the 36 states in the country, as part of palliatives to cushion the effects of COVID 19.
The leader of the caucus, Kingsley Chinda, who stated this in a statement, on Thursday, urged the government to maximise the two weeks lockdown by opening up free testing and treatment centres across the six geopolitical zones.
The lawmakers also charged the government to step down the payment of Value Added Tax (VAT) and give partial tax holiday on essential commodities for two months.
The caucus expressed appreciation to the doctors, nurses, as well as other medical personnels and volunteers working assiduously to help the country defeat coronavirus,, while putting their personal safety and lives at risk.
The PDP caucus, while aligning itself with the decision of the House leadership for lawmakers to donate their two months salaries to fight against COVID 19, stated that the House should consider sending the donations directly to states of the lawmakers..
“Again, as a caucus, we laud and fully align with the leadership of the House under Speaker Gbajiabiamila in the sacrifice of donating our salaries to assist our vulnerable constituents at this trying time but we must add that the speaker and the leadership of the House should consider sending the deductions of our caucus members directly to their various states as we are most dissatisfied with the distribution of palliatives by the Federal Government,” it stated.
The lawmaker also charged the House to urgently consider the passage of emergency bills that will cushion the effects of COVID 19.
According to them,”other measures such as food prices control should be ramped up; though specific, targeted and temporary legislation on food prices control will be needed for enforcement.
“This is where the National Assembly comes in – by establishing framework of teleconferencing and social media communication, where the current lockdown and the medical advisories that bar public gatherings make it impossible for the reconvening of the National Assembly, to deliberate and pass such bills, as the Food Prices Control, Covid-19 Containment, Emergency and Disaster Management, into law…”
