Fifteen million household across the country are set to benefit in the relaunched Conditional Cash Transfer programme of the federal government.
President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday relaunched the programme now tagged as Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer.
The event, which coincided with the World Poverty Eradication Day, was held at the Press Gallery of the State House in Abuja.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume represented the President at the event.
According to the president, the renewed hope conditional cash transfer programme is an immediate intervention to cushion the effects of the removal of the petrol subsidy and other economic shocks.
President Tinubu said the theme of this year’s World Poverty Eradication Day, “Decent Work and Social Protection: Putting dignity in practice for all” is in perfect alignment with the renewed hope agenda.
He said his administration would lead from the front in ensuring that all Nigerians have opportunities for dignified work and sustained social protection.
“It is only via a sustained collaborative approach that we can win this war against poverty in Nigeria and the world at large,” the president said.
“Hope is here. I ask the Nigerian people to please ensure that they key into all the available programmes because they are here to help.”
“Our objective is to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty. Yet, this will only be possible with the cooperation of the people we seek to help.
“Let us continue to work together to achieve our collective goal of eradicating poverty in Nigeria.”
Speaking at the event, minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Betta Edu, commended President Tinubu for providing the opportunity for 15 million households to benefit from the conditional cash transfers.
The minister said the first phase of the payments had already begun, adding that the names of beneficiaries were gotten from the national social register.
“Verification has been ongoing in the last three weeks, and Nigerians that are on that register have been verified with their biometrics verification number (BVN), national identification number (NIN), as well as all the forms of in-person verification at the points of their household,” she said.
“Remember that it would be an expansion of this register, which would carry the vulnerable pensioners, veterans and wives of fallen heroes, as well as other areas of concern where they were not fully captured, but however, we are starting.
“And what we are starting with are those that have been verified across all the states in Nigeria.”
The minister said that the sum of N25,000 would be transferred to the beneficiaries on a monthly basis for three months, which amounts to N75,000 for each of the beneficiaries.
She also disclosed that in no distant time, another scheme would be launched, code-named ‘Iya Loja Funds’ which would provide soft loans of N50,000 to support petty traders.
In addition, at the beginning of the next farming season, she said that farmers would be provided with incentives to boost their farm yields.
The Country Director of the World Bank, Shubham Chaudhuri, pledged his organisation’s support to the scheme.
Also, the finance minister, Wale Edun said a biometric auditing system would be put in place to ensure efficiency and accountability in the disbursement of the funds to beneficiaries.
