The Federal Government has revealed that in the last nine months, at least N330 billion has been spent on supporting vulnerable households through the social protection programme, targeted at providing a safety net to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal and devaluation of the naira on millions of Nigerians.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, who briefed newsmen yesterday alongside Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Tanko Sununu, noted that out of the 15 million households pencilled down to benefit from the programme, at least 8.5 million of them have received the first out of three tranches of N25, 000 due to them under the programme. According to him, the expectation was that the remaining seven million households would be paid by the end of the year.
He said: “We are pleased to report that the social protection programme, the putting in place of a safety net to help people to cope with the rising price level, is now firmly back on track.
“Of the 20 million households on the register, covering about 100 million Nigerians, the programme was for 15 million households, covering 75 million Nigerians. 8.5 million households have now been paid at least one tranche of the funds that were promised to them, N25,000, and they have two more payments to go. Some have received two and some have received three.”
When asked how much the government has been able to put into the programme in the last nine months, the minister responded “For the last nine months, about N330 billion.”
Edun further disclosed that President Bola Tinubu has been able to deliver on his promise of a modern social protection system to help the poorest and the most vulnerable through the difficulties caused by the increase in price levels, by digitising the system and ensuring linkage of beneficiaries National Identification Number (NIN) to the National Social Register.
Edun also disclosed possibilities of raising a budget line for safety nets saying: “More importantly, in any modern economy, a social safety net is an important aspect and what Nigeria now has is a robust system of reaching whichever targeted set of people that it wants to reach to help the poorest and the most vulnerable on a longterm basis.”
The head of the National Social Safety Net Coordination Office in charge of the National Social Register, Funmi Olotu, explained that the linkage of beneficiaries NIN to the National Social Register was reason why some households out of the 8.5 million who have been paid thus far, received one tranche of payment while others received two or the entire three tranches of payments.
Olotu, who insisted the programme was not politicised, stated that the National Social Register which was built in collaboration between the government of Nigeria and the World Bank, made use of over 40 variables in identifying the households. She further clarified that before now, the amount being paid to poor and vulnerable households in the country was N5, 000 for six months. However, President Tinubu’s administration reviewed it and made it N25, 000 for three months.
