FG Aims to Reach 15M Households with ₦25k Cash Transfer Scheme – Minister

The Federal Government announces a ₦25,000 monthly cash transfer initiative targeting 15 million households to alleviate poverty and boost economic resilience.

Nentawe Yilwatda, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, announced that the Federal Government aims to reach 15 million households and 75 million people through its conditional cash transfer program.

He stated that each household will receive ₦25,000 per month three times a year.

Yilwatda stated that this action is a component of President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to alleviate the effects of economic hardship on vulnerable Nigerians.

“The president was very detailed in outlining policies aimed at alleviating the challenges faced by people at the lower end of the economic pyramid,” he stated on Monday’s episode of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.

“Firstly, he suggested that we should aim to reach 15 million households through the conditional cash transfer program to alleviate the struggles faced by Nigerians at the lowest tier of our social register. It is important to note that this figure represents households, not individuals; each household typically consists of around five people.”

Therefore, if we’re targeting 15 million households, it indicates that the President aims to impact 75 million Nigerians through this conditional cash transfer.

The minister stated that the Federal Government has successfully reached five million people to date and is currently working on updating the social register.

Five million people have been reached so far. However, we faced a challenge: the new CBN policy mandates that individuals must possess a digital identity in order to receive any financial assistance. This requirement is intended to ensure transparency and traceability of all funds distributed in Nigeria.

Currently, we have approximately 1.4 million individuals on that register with digital identities. It’s important to note that most of the people we’re targeting are not part of the banking segment,” he mentioned, adding that women were selected as household leaders.

“We focus on women as household leaders since they are often responsible for caring for children and the vulnerable,” Yilwatda stated during the breakfast show.

In January, President Tinubu suspended the scheme managed by the National Social Investment Programme due to allegations of corruption.

However, in February, the Federal Government announced that it was relaunching the scheme with a goal of reaching an additional 12 million households eligible for these direct payments.