• President launches cash transfer programme for 15m as palliatives
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
As President Bola Tinubu launched the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer Programme for vulnerable groups to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal and other economic shocks, Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has bemoaned the fact that an estimated 63 percent of Nigerians live in poverty as unacceptable.
The programme was announced by Tinubu in his Independence Day speech, where he said 15 million households would each be given N25,000 for three consecutive months as part of efforts to alleviate the immediate effect of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), known as petrol.
CCT entails transfers given to beneficiaries based on specific actions such as sending children to school or making regular health visits.
At the formal launch, yesterday, the president, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, said: “My government will lead from the front in seeking to ensure that all Nigerians have opportunities decent 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. 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 without 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.”
Edun vowed that the CCT programme would be transparent in accordance with extant global practices. He also explained that the audit trail using biometric metrics will ensure efficient and transparent distribution of support to the people.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, said the first phase of the payments have begun.
“The persons who are presented with the plaques today can actually attest and show the evidence that they have received their monies. They were obtained 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, to verify that they did the bracket and that meets all the criteria within the checklist that’s required to help them get this funded.
“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.
“Verification process is still ongoing. And so for the first set that has been verified they will receive their money immediately. Subsequently, orders were verified to receive the money. But what we can assure Nigerians is the fact that this is a very transparent system that is traceable from the CBN account directly to the account of the beneficiaries.
“For Nigerians who do not have accounts and do not have the NIN, we are actually working to open accounts or money wallets for all of the persons so that they can have the money sent directly to them. We would equally be pasting out the list of beneficiaries at the different communities so that people who are beneficiaries can actually go there and check for their names and know that they qualify to be beneficiaries.
“It’s a transparent process; it is one that we believe will be beneficial to Nigerians at all levels. We want Nigerians to continue to keep fits with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as he is poised to actually eradicate poverty from Nigeria. He has a seven year plan, which of course is aligned with the SDG 2030 limits.”
The World Bank Country Representative, Mr Shubham Chaudhuri, said that the institution was ready to support Nigeria for taking the bold economic measure for diverting funds from the shackles of fuel subsidy.
He said that the bank was interested in helping its 189 member states to eliminate poverty among their different peoples.
Chaudhuri said that the CCT programme was part of the palliatives pledged by the president that would further assuage the immediate effects of the subsidy removal.
He urged the relevant authorities to ensure that the fund reached the most vulnerable members of the society in order to achieve its objectives.