Government To Resume Cash Transfer To Poor Nigerians From August 23

The Federal Government disclosed that it will resume the Conditional Cash Transfer to beneficiaries across the country from the 23rd of August.

This was disclosed in a statement by the National Coordinator of the programme, Hajiya Halima Shehu, National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) under the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs at a meeting with State Focal Persons of the National Social Investment Programme in Abuja on Friday.

She disclosed that the delay in resumption is due to a system upgrade being carried out by the FG, to boost efficient service delivery. Upgrades including “tweaking the payment modalities to respond to cashless realities, security concerns and digitization of the payment processes.”

“Thirty per cent of its operations have been digitised and will recommence payment to its beneficiaries next week,” she added.

She also signalled that not all states would start receiving cash transfers from the 23^rd of August due to other operational bottlenecks, and urged for understanding with stakeholders, citing that the FG is committed to lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.

What you should know

Nairametrics reported in March 2020, that the Federal Government commenced immediate payment of conditional cash transfer funds to the poorest and most vulnerable households in the country. Due to the impact of the lockdown on the finances of many income earners, the category of vulnerable groups has also been expanded to accommodate more persons.