"We Start Harvesting NIN": FG Opens Up on Sharing N75,000 Cash to 70 Million Nigerians

• About 70 million Nigerians would receive N75,000 in cash from the Federal Government
• By the end of January 2025, the ministry intends to have the program operational in all 36 of the Federation's states
• The project is part of President Bola Tinubu's directive to fight extreme poverty and create a more extensive social safety net

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

The federal government intends to provide N75,000 in cash to roughly 70 million Nigerians who are considered to be among the "poorest of the poor."

Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, revealed this yesterday when he appeared on Arise Television's The Morning Show.

Yilwatda said the ministry plans to implement the program throughout the 36 states of the Federation by the end of January 2025 to register up to 18.1 million Nigerian homes using the National Identity Number (NIN) system.

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“We want to deploy by the end of January across 36 states to ensure we start harvesting the NIN number of up to 18.1 million Nigerian households that we need to capture as fast as possible so that we can make payment for them,” the minister said.

“The target of the President is that we should target 15 million households. And an average household is about 4 to 5. We are discussing here roughly about 70 million households with about N75,000 per person this year,” the minister noted.

President Bola Tinubu's plans to combat severe poverty and establish a more comprehensive social safety net include the project, The Guardian reported.

According to Yilwatda, the program will target about 70 million people nationally, with an average of 4 to 5 people living in each household.

Driving Digital Inclusion for the Poor

By working with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to boost NIN registrations, the program would help improve the digital IDs of low-income Nigerians. Yilwatda claims that doing this will assist expedite the procedure and guarantee that the database contains the most vulnerable populations.

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“We are doing the data capturing, but for now, the poorest of the poor that we have in our data is only 1.4 million with NIN. We are working with NIMC, deploying resources, and conducting training. NIMC has brought in more devices under a program with the World Bank to assist us in data capturing for those without NIN numbers.”

The Minister detailed ongoing efforts, saying,

“We are training in some states like Rivers, Kwara, Abuja, and Nasarawa, among others, and deploying to these states in the first round. By the end of January, we want to deploy across the 36 states to start capturing the NIN numbers of up to 18.1 million households. This will enable us to make payments to them for Conditional Cash Transfers.”

The minister underlined how crucial it is to use technology to improve the cash transfer program's effectiveness, accountability, and transparency. Digital registration, he continued, would guarantee that money is distributed to the most vulnerable, improve tracking, and cut down on errors.

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FG set to serve as loan guarantor for Nigerians

Legit.ng reported that President Bola Tinubu is set to kick off a National Credit Guarantee System (NCGS) that will help bridge the $160 billion credit gap for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The scheme announced during the president's New Year address will see the federal government as a loan guarantor.

The com­pany is expec­ted to start oper­a­tions before the end of the second quarter.

Source: Legit.ng