The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has welcomed moves by Nigeria to fast-track the disbursement of cash transfers to 15 million households under the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme of the President Bola Tinubu administration.
This, according to the group, is because of the delay in the full implementation of a scheme that is central to the administration’s quest to lift millions of vulnerable Nigerians from acute poverty.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Emeka Nwankpa, and Secretary, Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG said that with the newly inaugurated inter-agency task force in place, the stage is now set for a wider coverage of the poverty-alleviation scheme.
The statement read in part, “We are aware that President Bola Tinubu formally launched the Conditional Cash Transfer programme targeted at 15 million households across the country soon after assuming office in 2023.
“The idea was to improve on the same scheme introduced by his predecessor, former President Muhammadu Buhari, by reaching more Nigerians than the 1.6 million households (8 million individuals) who benefited from the Buhari administration’s disbursement of N10,000 bi-monthly as of 2021.
“So President Tinubu’s CCT initiative is clearly more ambitious, with the target of ensuring that 15 million households receive N25,000 per month thrice in a year.
“But since the announcement, the process had been slowed down by financial inclusion bottlenecks which are now to be addressed by an inter-agency task force including the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).
“We view the composition of the task force as a statement of intent. The Tinubu administration is set to navigate issues of distrust that characterise the previous scheme and ensure that all beneficiaries have a digital footprint aside from bank accounts.
“We still recall how state governments under the auspices of the National Economic Council (NEC), in July 2023, disowned the National Social Register (NSR), the database for vulnerable populations used by the Buhari administration for the CCT programme.
“But now, with NIMC working with the Central Bank and other relevant humanitarian agencies, we are convinced that more of the intended beneficiaries would be able to have the National Identification Number (NIN), which is now mandatory for benefitting from the CCT and other social services.
“In addition, the issue of distrust in disbursement would be addressed, and the possibility of funds getting to intended beneficiaries would be higher with proper documentation and identification.
“All these are necessary against the backdrop of the alarm recently raised by the World Bank on increasing poverty in rural Nigeria and the need to ramp up social protection initiatives.
“Only recently, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, told a World Bank delegation led by its Vice President for West and Central Africa, Mr. Ousmane Diagana, that there was evidence now that 6 million households were benefiting from the scheme.
“So we hope that in due course, the Tinubu administration’s target of reaching out to 15 million vulnerable households would be met.”
The group urged agencies involved in the process to live up to expectations by ensuring swift completion of the task of addressing the delay in cushioning the impact of economic hardship on vulnerable Nigerians in the lowest rung of the social strata.
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