*As CBN reportedly begins disbursements
The Federal government is reportedly expanding the National Social Register to accommodate pensioners and ex-servicemen under its Conditional Cash Transfer scheme.
It is also removing beneficiaries who have exited the poverty line.
Reports say the government is also taking out dead beneficiaries from the register, and would disqualify those without National Identification Numbers (NINs) and Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs).
The report further said that payments would be made directly to the beneficiaries by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and not through consultants, as the first batch of bulk payments would begin next week for five million households.
The Conditional Cash Transfer scheme is part of the National Social Investment Programme of the Federal government, a project created to change the lives of millions of Nigerians living in extreme poverty, upgrade their standard of living and improve the economy.
In commemoration of the 2023 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Tuesday in Abuja, President Bola Tinubu launched the disbursement of N25,000 to 15 million households for three months as a social safety net intervention.
The aim is to mitigate the impact of the recent fuel subsidy removal and help eradicate poverty across the country.
Providing further details on the initiative, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Rasheed Olanrewaju, said the cash transfer scheme had been reviewed and expanded.
Asked if the Federal government would recognise the old register used by the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration to transfer the money, he said: “We are using a verified expanded register that has pensioners and veterans, as well as other vulnerable persons who were not captured.”
Confirming the position of the minister’s media aide, the National Communications Manager, National Social Investment Programme Agency, Jamaldeen Kabir, said that beneficiaries who had exited the poverty line were being removed from the register.
Kabir said: “What he (Olanrewaju) told you is very correct, because the register is being expanded. First of all, it has to be verified so that those who are out of the poverty line will be removed from the old register.
“Those in the register, are they still within the poverty line or have they exited the line? The expansion will also include the wives of fallen heroes and pensioners.”
On when the cash transfer would begin, Olanrewaju said although bulk payments would commence from next week, some of those who have already been verified had started receiving payment alerts.
“The cash transfer (scheme) has been launched and once a household is verified, they get paid. The batches begin this month, next week to be precise; however, verified people have started receiving alerts,” he stated.