The President Buhari federal government has disclosed that it has paid about $300 million to poor and vulnerable Nigerians in the last four years.
According to the government, the recipients were captured in its National Social Register through N5,000 cash transfers.
The National Coordinator, National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office, Apera Iorwa, made this known in an interview with Sunday Punch.
He added that the Muhammadu Buhari government has impacted about 10 million individuals through the Social Intervention Programme.
“For the cash transfer of N5,000 per month, the Federal Government, over the four-year period, has been able to disburse $300m.
“This is consistent. Every month, you collect N5,000, but for logistics, we pay N10,000 every two months,” he said.
Iorwa stated that the Federal Government and the World Bank since 2016 have continued to help end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity in the country.
He disclosed that the bank offered a credit of $500m to support the National Social Safety Net Programme, which will end by June 2022.
However, Iorwa stated that another $800m had been approved by the World Bank to extend the support programme to 2024 in a way that would benefit 8.5 million more Nigerians.
He said, “We have been able to secure an additional $800m facility from the World Bank to answer the most pressing issues of the hike in prices occasioned by the high rate of inflation. The $800m facility will start in February, overlapping with this current programme in June.
“This current programme in June is paying only $2m till June 30. The $800m facility will take over and continue to pay this $2m till 2024. We will pay an additional 8.5 million people through the rapid response register for the urban poor. Since the urban poor is an emergency fund transfer, this 8.5 million people will be paid from six months to only one year, N5,000 monthly.”