Presidency Clarifies Report On Beneficiaries Of Cash Transfer Initiative

Mrs. Maryam Uwais, Special Adviser to the President on Social
Investments, says 620, 947 poor and vulnerable Nigerians are
benefiting from the National Cash Transfer initiative.

Uwais, in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, said that reports
claiming that 6.6 million poor and vulnerable Nigerians were
benefiting from the scheme were “not correct”.

Media reports had quoted the Presidential aide as saying that
6.6 million people were being paid the N5,000 monthly stipend.

The programme is a key component of the National Social
Investment Programme of the Federal Government.

“Although 1,491,296 households, comprising 6,056, 872
individuals have been captured on the National Social Register,
only 620,947 of them are currently receiving the monthly payments
and are being supported by trained community facilitators.

“I also want to clarify reports making the rounds that the
Federal Government made a budgetary provision of N30 billion for
2020, as against the usual 500 billion benchmark for the N-SIP
since 2016.

“Nothing has changed in the budgeting cycle as relates to the
Social Investment Programmes (SIP).

“The SIP budget has always been pegged at N400 billion, while
another N100 billion has been domiciled in the Federal Ministry of
Finance, as counterpart of the Social Housing Fund,” she
explained.

Uwais expressed hope that shortfalls in budgetary releases in
the last three years would be a thing of the past.

“In 2016, we got 16 per cent of our budget; we got 36 per cent
in 2017, and 53 per cent in 2018.

“But, in spite of the shortfalls in budgetary releases, the
National Social Investment Programme has been very successful.

“It has impacted on 13 million people across the country, with
44 million as secondary beneficiaries comprising families, agents,
farmers and others in the value chain,” she said.