The Federal Government of Nigeria has explained that the introduction of digitalised cash transfer payment in the country was put in place to help in addressing some lapses encountered while operating the analog payment system.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, gave this explanation while speaking at the official flag-off of the grant for several vulnerable groups as well as the digitised payment for conditional cash transfer which was held in Dutse, Jigawa State on Friday.
She asserted that part of the issues faced by the program is the use of an analog system of the payment which according to her caused delays in the payment process and made it cumbersome.
The Minister explained the exercise is to create room for a reliable, transparent, and accessible database for seamless disbursement to beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer.
Her words; ‘It is a POS process of transferring cash grants to beneficiaries to ensure accountability and transparency in the process’.
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The minister, however, explained that the Federal Government had also introduced the Grant for Vulnerable Groups program (GVG) to sustain the social inclusion agenda of President Buhari’s Administration.
‘It is designed to provide a one-off N20,000 grant to some of the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians in rural and peri-urban areas in all the 36 States of the Federation to improve their productivity and their commercial activity, all of which will help in easing them out of poverty.
‘In Jigawa State is to disburse the grant to 4,537 beneficiaries across the 27 Local Government Areas out of which 70% of the total number of beneficiaries is for women while the remaining 30% is for the youths”
‘It is consistent with the national target of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.’
The minister also urged all the beneficiaries to utilize the grant judiciously to address poverty which today is the core developmental challenge.
