The federal government is considering restart of the direct cash transfers to the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, revealed this plan during the ministry’s retreat held in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom state capital on Wednesday, February 21, 2024.
He said, “The presidential panel on the social investment programmes, have prepared to go to Mr. President with an internal recommendation to restart the direct payments to the poorest and the most vulnerable. Everything is being done to ease the pain.
“We know that there’s been about 3 million beneficiaries now, but given the way the rates have gone, there are probably another 12 million people, households that can benefit from that payment.”
On how the current administration intends to approach the programme this time, the minister said: “The only thing delaying that is not waiting for the end of the report. It is something that the intervention is meant to happen immediately.
“We have experts in technology, the commitment was to make sure that we use technology to ensure that we have a seamless payment, a seamless movement between the registered and the direct beneficiaries, without any manual processes in between. So it’s taking time to automate that process immediately that direct payment will resume”.
