FG Begins Payment of N5000 to 1 Million Poor Nigerians

FG Begins Payment of N5000 to 1 Million Poor Nigerians

The federal government on Monday announced that it has commenced the payment of the N5,000 stipend to 1 million of the most poorNigerians in 9 states.

The payment of the stipend falls under the conditional cash transfer scheme of the present administration as part of its social investment programme.

A statement signed by Laolu Akande, spokesman to the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, identified the 9 pilot states where the implementation of the conditional cash transfer had begun as Borno, Kwara, Bauchi, Cross Rivers, Niger, Kogi, Oyo, Ogun and Ekiti States.

“The nine pilot states were chosen because they have an existing Social Register that successfully identified the most vulnerable and poorest Nigerians through a tried and tested community based targeting (CBT) method working with the World Bank,” Akande said.

The presidential aide noted that other states had already begun to develop their Social Registers and would be included in subsequent phases of the CCT implementation.

“Meanwhile, Plateau, Jigawa, Adamawa, Anambra, Benue, Enugu, Katsina & Taraba States have so far complied with the stipulated framework provided, and are set for the community based targeting method for the development of their Social Register within their jurisdictions,” he said.

Akande expressed the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to implementing its social welfare programmes, noting that 200,000 youths employed under the N-Power programme had already begun receiving their N30,000 stipend.

He added that the implementation of the school feeding programme would be intensified in the coming months as government aims to ensure that the impact of its policies are felt by all.