The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Nentawe Yilwatda, has announced that the Federal Government is aiming to reach 15 million households and 75 million people through its conditional cash transfer program.
Under the scheme, each eligible household will receive ₦25,000 three times a year. Yilwatda explained that this initiative is part of President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to alleviate the economic hardship faced by vulnerable Nigerians.
“The president has been very clear about his commitment to easing the challenges faced by those at the bottom of the economic ladder,” Yilwatda said during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief. “He specifically instructed that we should target 15 million households under the conditional cash transfer, which we estimate will impact 75 million Nigerians.”
The minister further explained that the Federal Government has already reached 5 million individuals, but there are challenges with the social register. “The new policy from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) requires digital identity verification before any funds can be disbursed to ensure transparency and traceability.
Currently, only 1.4 million people on the register have digital identities,” Yilwatda said. He noted that many of the recipients are from non-banking sectors, which adds to the complexity of the process.
Yilwatda also highlighted that women have been selected as the primary leaders of households in the program. “We target women as household leaders because they are the primary caregivers for children and other vulnerable family members,” he added.
While the National Social Investment Program (NSIP) was suspended in January due to allegations of corruption, the Federal Government announced in February that the scheme would be restarted, with an additional 12 million households eligible for direct payments.
