The House of Representatives has approved an amendment to the Supplementary Appropriation Act 2022 to provide N500 billion for the federal government to provide palliatives to cushion the effects of petrol subsidy removal on Nigerians.

The amendment, which passed first, second and third readings during plenary on Wednesday, was sponsored by the House Leader, Rep. Alhassan Ado Doguwa.

The money will be extracted from the N819 billion Supplementary Appropriation Act, 2022, passed by the National Assembly in April.

The president said 12 million families will get N8, 000 over a period of six months to ameliorate the hardships they face as a result of subsidy removal.

This newspaper learnt that during today’s plenary, members took turns to commend the President for taking a bold step to remove fuel subsidy and showing Nigerians that he was a listening President.

The House’s approval of the amendment comes after President Bola Tinubu had asked the lawmakers to approve the money to help Nigerians cope with the rising cost of fuel.

The Tinubu-led government had announced in May that it would be removing fuel subsidy in June, a move which led to a sharp increase in the price of premium motor spirit, also known as petrol.