Tinubu Launches N25,000 Conditional Cash Transfer to 15m Vulnerable Nigerian Households

The federal government of Nigeria has kicked off the disbursement of cash transfer to selected Nigerian households as part of efforts to ameliorate the impact of fuel subsidy removal.

The initiative, dubbed Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer, was launched on Tuesday by President Bola Tinubu weeks after the federal government reached an agreement with organized labor unions to avert their proposed nationwide strike.

The launch of the conditional cash transfer for 15 million households coincided with World Poverty Eradication Day and was held at the Press Gallery of the State House in Abuja.

George Akume, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, stood in for the President at the occasion.

Present were Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Eradication; Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance; Shubham Chaudhuri, the Country Director of the World Bank; and Matthias Schmale, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, along with other distinguished guests.

The cash transfer initiative aimed at assisting vulnerable citizens was first unveiled on October 1, during Tinubu’s inaugural Independence Day address to the Nigerian people on October 1.

Tinubu approved the payment of N75,000 to 15 million households, representing 62 million Nigerians, at N25,000 per month, for a three-month period from October-December 2023.

As part of measures to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal, the president also announced N35,000 only as a provisional wage award for all treasury-paid federal government workers for six months.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs said besides the unconditional cash transfer, another scheme code-named ‘Iya Loja Funds’ would be launched to provide soft loans of N50,000 to support petty traders. This, people say, is not different from trader-moni, a similar scheme introduced by Tinubu’s predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.

Furthermore, Edu mentioned that as the upcoming farming season commences, farmers will receive incentives to enhance their agricultural productivity.

Nevertheless, there is significant apprehension among many regarding the government’s capacity to distribute cash transfers effectively, as there exists no dependable database to serve as the foundation for this initiative. However, Nigeria’s Finance Minister and the Coordinator of the Economy said a biometric auditing system would be put in place to ensure efficiency and accountability in the disbursement of the funds to beneficiaries.

The World Bank, which relentlessly urged Nigeria to remove fuel subsidy, has been an ardent supporter of the cash transfer initiative, providing an $800 million loan to the federal government earlier this year for that purpose. The Country Director of the World Bank, Chaudhuri, said his organization will continue to support the scheme.