FG To Launch Conditional Cash Transfer To 15m Households October 17th – Betta Edu
…..To Restart TradeMoni Scheme November, Earmarks N50,000 Per Beneficiary
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Betta Edu says the Federal Government will launch the conditional cash transfer policy for 15 million households on October 17th, 2023.
She spoke when she was featured on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics months after the Federal Government stopped the payment of subsidies on petroleum.
“With the approval from the President which we hope to get this week, on the 17th of October, we will be officially launching the conditional cash transfer to 15m households in Nigeria,” the minister said.
According to her, the ministry is working with stakeholders across the country to get a credible register of beneficiaries.
“As we speak, we are having a verification exercise. Every state can bear us witness that we have put boots on the ground – persons who are working with the state cash transfer office as well as the governors who are the heads of the steering committee and then several other persons,” she said.
“All of this is to be sure those who are on the national social register truly are Nigerians who fall [spend] within the under $1.95 a day [range] and they deserve to have it,” the minister added.
While admitting that some persons on the register may have died or moved up the economic ladder, Mrs. Betta said the verification exercise is to clean up the register.
“So, two things. First, as we speak, we are on the field cleaning up that data and doing a complete verification and we are juxtaposing both the BVN, NIM and the rest of it to identify these people and be sure we are dealing with authentic persons,” the 36-year-old said.
“And then, of course, there is biometrics to it and you have a capturing of the head of the household as well as a picture of the household so it can be located. On each of these households, they are numbered so people can go there and verify against the register.”
To Restart TradeMoni Scheme November, Earmarks N50,000 Per Beneficiary
Meanwhile, the Federal Government will restart the Tradermoni scheme in November with each beneficiary getting N50,000 to support their business.
While the interest-free loan scheme for traders – started in 2018 – has been on hold for some time, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Mrs Betta Edu said the government is set to relaunch it.
Confirming that the scheme has not been scrapped, she said: “Now, for the first set, which we are starting in November, we are selecting one big market per senatorial district. That is 109 markets and we are going into the markets, capturing the traders in their shops in the markets.
Unlike the N10,000 given to traders in the earlier phases, there is more money for the beneficiaries.
“It’s N50,000 to support their businesses,” she said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
“We are not interested in party lines, or any social or personal interest. We capture them in the market and then after doing so, we create a bank account just as they are being captured, and the monies are sent directly from the CBN account,” the minister noted.
According to her, it is a one-off interest-free loan with those who repay qualifying for another loan.
While dismissing claims that the programme is a political tool, the minister said elections are over, arguing that the present government is committed to making things better for Nigerians.
“Well, we don’t have elections right now. As we are starting, the Renewed Hope GEEP programme, we don’t have elections, we have Nigerians. Politics is over. We are facing governance. That’s what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is all about,” the minister added.
“Now, for the first set which we are starting in November, we selecting one big market per senatorial district. That is 109 markets.”
She equally said the conditional cash transfer policy of the government is set to return later in the month.
“With the approval from the President which we hope to get this week, on the 17th of October, we will be officially launching the conditional cash transfer to 15m households in Nigeria,” she added, noting that the government is cleaning up the social register for effectiveness.
