N600bn in Cash Transfers Disbursed to 10m Households in Three Years, says FG

The federal government says it has disbursed more than N600 billion in cash transfers to vulnerable Nigerians in the three years since President Bola Tinubu assumed office.

Bernard Doro, minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty reduction, spoke on Wednesday during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme.

Doro said the payments were part of efforts to support poor and vulnerable households and improve their living conditions.

He said the cash-transfer programme had reached slightly more than 10 million households, which could translate to about 40 million people based on an average household size of four.

“We have done over N600 billion in cash transfers to be able to support vulnerable Nigerians within three years,” Doro said.

The minister also said the government had recently launched a vocational skills programme under which more than 18,000 people were trained and provided with starter kits and stipends.

According to Doro, the beneficiaries also received training in business management and accounting, enabling them to establish businesses.

He said the government is also supporting farmers through a separate programme as part of efforts to improve livelihoods and reduce poverty.

Further defending the impact of the cash-transfer programme, the government official said the payments could make a significant difference to the poorest households despite the relatively small amount received by each beneficiary.

“N25,000 can look very small to elites, but not to the poorest of the poor,” he said.

The minister said the government is focused on translating improvements in the broader economy into better living conditions for ordinary Nigerians.

“My job is to translate macroeconomic gains as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction. I translate the microeconomic gains to the micro level, and you can see the traction,” he said.

Doro said the government is also monitoring the risk of food insecurity in northern Nigeria following projections that more than 70 million people across nine conflict-affected states could face acute food insecurity.

He said the figures were merely projections and did not necessarily represent the actual number of people who would experience food insecurity.

The minister noted that the government had recently implemented a presidential intervention on food and nutrition across 10 northern states, saying it would continue to monitor the situation and intervene where necessary.