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Tinubu Govt disburses N493b to 5m households, Says Yusuf-Tanko
No fewer than five million households have received N493billion disbursed by the Federal Government as part of its social protection measures.
Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Yusuf Tanko Sununu, stated this yesterday.
He, however, did not indicate the period during which the cash was made available.
He said the ministry has a budget of over N500 billion captured under the service-wide vote for the National and Social Investment Programme.
The fund is expected to be deployed for the implementation of the National Homegrown School Feeding Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer, N-Power training and FarmerMoni, the minister said.
“Already, over five million families, which represent almost 75 million households, have been reached through the rapid response register.
“And over N493 billion has been disbursed,” he said.
Sununu spoke in Abuja at a briefing on ‘sustainable response to address the humanitarian gap arising from the partial suspension of World Food Programme (WFP) operations in the Northeast and Northwest’.
The minister said the funds are disbursed based on the national social register and reflect the report of the multidimensional poverty index in Nigeria.
Sununu said: “The report says that 65 per cent of vulnerable or poor people are in the northern part of the country, while 35 per cent are in the southern part.
“If you look at the urban-rural ratio, it also goes 70-30 per cent.
“Seventy per cent are in the rural areas, while 30 per cent are in the urban areas.
“So the beneficiaries in the northern part of the country are almost 71 per cent, while in the southern part, it’s 29 per cent.
“This is just reflecting the data that we are working with.”
He spoke of a plan to give N300,000 to 21,000 smallholder farmers across the country through the Government Enterprises and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).
GEEP will be a short-to-long-term loan with no collateral and interest-free.
The aim, he said, is to support farmers who may have suffered losses from flooding and other factors.
“The account of NSIPA was suspended. But I’m glad to say that Mr. President has directed that the account should be open. And the account has been opened.
“The GEEP will be funded with part of that money that is returned to the account of the ministry.
“And Mr. President has always given a go-ahead, considering the emergencies in the country, that money should quickly be returned to the account of the NSIPA.
“Added to the release that we are expecting for 2025, I think we are good to go,” he said.
The minister also unveiled plans for the rollout of the Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG).
In the bid to accelerate the process, the ministry has put modalities in place.
He said: “We employed about 53 companies that will help us in updating the NIN registration for each of those in our national register who don’t have the account number, NIN and BVN.
“The companies have already mobilised to reach out to numerous vulnerable groups. A lot of IDPs are in the National Social Register.”
Sununu said the Tinubu Administration has designed a strategic plan for homegrown solutions to a myriad of humanitarian challenges.
He said the ministry will ensure transparency and accountability and ensure proper multi-level response coordination.
“Mr. President is focusing on the fact that we must redeem the image of the ministry and institute the principle of accountability and transparency.
“We had to develop a memo to the Federal Executive Council, which has got the approval of the Council, to have the National Council on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.
“This will allow us to develop a programme that is not federal, but national.”
The position of Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation is vacant once again because of the election of the Minister, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Yilwatda had replaced Dr. Betta Edu, who was suspended to allow for the investigation of allegations of misappropriation.
