Cash Transfer: FG Disqualifies Nigerians Without NIN, BVN, CBN Begins Payment

Federal Government is taking out dead beneficiaries, to disqualify Nigerians without National Identification Numbers (NIN) and Bank Verification Numbers (BVN).

FG is also expanding the National Social Register to accommodate pensioners and ex-servicemen under its Conditional Cash Transfer scheme.

The payments would be made directly to the beneficiaries by the Central Bank of Nigeria and not through consultants, as the first batch of bulk payments would begin next week for five million households.

VerseNews reports that the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Rasheed Olanrewaju, stated that the cash transfer scheme had been reviewed and expanded.

On if the Federal Government would use the old register used by the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration to transfer the money, he stated, “We are using a verified expanded register that has pensioners and veterans, as well as other vulnerable persons who were not captured.”

Confirming the position of the minister’s media aide, the National Communications Manager, National Social Investment Programme Agency, Jamaldeen Kabir, stated that beneficiaries who had exited the poverty line were being removed from the register.

Kabir said, “What he (Olanrewaju) told you is very correct, because the register is being expanded. First of all, it has to be verified so that those who are out of the poverty line will be removed from the old register.

“Those in the register, are they still within the poverty line or have they exited the line? The expansion will also include the wives of fallen heroes and pensioners.”

Olanrewaju stated that though bulk payments would commence from next week, some of those who had been verified had already started receiving payment alerts.

“The cash transfer (scheme) has been launched and once a household is verified, they get paid. The batches begin this month, next week to be precise; however, verified people have started receiving alerts,”

Also commenting on when the cash transfer would begin, Kabir said, “Actually, when the programme was launched at the Presidential Villa three days ago, some beneficiaries were presented with some cheques.

“So, before this month ends, the beneficiaries in the first phase will receive theirs, and this phase caters to five million households. So, we are expecting those five million households to receive money in the months of October, November and December,” Olanrewaju added.

On how many ghost recipients had been discovered, the minister’s aide stated that a lot of measures had been put in place to make the scheme credible, such as the introduction of the NIN and BVN.

“They may not be ghosts, but we have put in place many controls to make the process credible and clean. First, we looked for the NIN and BVN to match with in-person verification and biometrics. The process is from the CBN to the beneficiaries; there are no middlemen,” Olanrewaju stated.

Asked to state the number of dead recipients, he replied, “We have struck off many names following the verification. The final figure will be out in weeks; it may run into millions.

“Some are dead; some are no longer in that category (of the poor) and some could not be identified at locations given, so wait till we get the compilation ready,”