Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs Betta Edu, on the status of the Conditional Cash Transfer programme of the federal government to 15 million households.
The House, in a motion of urgent public importance on Tuesday, expressed worry over the handling of the programme, questioning the lack of transparency in the scheme.
The Minister is to give details on the collation of data and distribution of the funds.
Business Post reported a few weeks ago that President Bola Tinubu launched the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer for 15 million households.
The President had in his maiden Independence Day broadcast to Nigerians on October 1, 2023, announced the cash transfer programme which he said would target vulnerable citizens.
The 15 million households, according to the Humanitarian Affairs Minister, represent 62 million Nigerians.
She said that the sum of N25,000 would be transferred to each of the beneficiaries on a monthly basis for three months.
The Minister also disclosed that in no distant time, another scheme would be launched code-named Iya Loja Funds which would provide soft loans of N50,000 to support petty traders.
In addition, at the beginning of the next farming season, she said farmers would be provided with incentives to boost their farm yields.
The Finance Minister, Mr Wale Edun, said a biometric auditing system would be put in place to ensure efficiency and accountability in the disbursement of the funds to beneficiaries.
The programme had been mandated following some reforms instituted by President Tinubu when he assumed office. He removed fuel subsidies and unified the exchange rate, two moves that helped worsen the hardship faced by Nigerians as these resulted in an increase in food, transportation, energy, and other daily needs.
