Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has said the state will increase the number of households targeted for palliatives from 300,000 to 400,000 households.

The governor on Tuesday in Maiduguri said this is a result of the N5bn presidential initiative received by the state from the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to alleviate the hardship and sufferings among the people in the state.

It was reported that each household will be made up of six family members to be multiplied by 400,000, which, by implication, moves Zulum’s new target to 2.4 million individuals.

Governor Zulum had, on August 1, 2023, while launching a new phase of palliatives’ distribution, announced a target of 300,000 households each with six persons, which will multiply to 1.8 million individuals.

“Today we are here to distribute palliatives to 100,000 vulnerable households under the Presidential Initiative; this is in addition to the 300,000 households the Borno State Government had rolled out early this month,” Zulum told newsmen at the former Bakasi IDPs camp, the venue of the distribution exercise, on Tuesday.

He added, “You may recall that the Federal Government has announced N5bn to all states, and with that amount, we intend to reach an additional 100,000 vulnerable families.”

The governor further explained that the Presidential Initiative is a collaboration of the federal, state, and local governments.

The FG, he noted, is granting 52 per cent of the total amount, while the state and local governments will refund 48 per cent of the amount.

Since July, Zulum has accelerated palliatives to mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices on the lives of citizens.

The palliatives have so far been distributed in Gwoza, Kukawa, Jere, and Maiduguri Metropolitan local government areas to thousands of benefitting families.

The state’s deputy governor, Umar Kadafur, flagged off a similar distribution in Biu town on Monday.