The Federal Government has earmarked N20 billion to distribute to two million Nigerians starting June, according to the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
In a March 2022 document on the strategic roadmap and activities of the Ministry, it was noted that showed that the number of people receiving cash transfers from the government under the National Cash Transfer Programme had been increasing.
The report stated that in 2018, a total of 19 states were covered under the National Cash Transfer Programme, as this increased to 24 states in 2019 and moved up to 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in 2022, covering 1.6 million people.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, stated in the document that the number would increase further in June. Under the cash transfer scheme, the Federal Government supports poor and vulnerable households with cash on a monthly basis.
“By June 2022 we would be paying two million people N5,000 basic cash transfer and an additional N5,000 on conditional cash transfers, which is conditioned on good health-seeking/behaviour, school retention, and good water and hygiene conditions in their environment/homes,” Farouq stated.
This means a total of N20 billion will be needed by the FG to fulfil such a promise.
The minister explained that the ministry designed and piloted a shock-responsive social register, called the Rapid Response Register to capture urban poor informal workers, who were daily wage earners, working across towns and cities, and impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown.
