Nigerian Government Expands National Social Register

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

The government also plans to disqualify those without National Identification Numbers and Bank Verification Numbers, including removing dead beneficiaries from accessing conditional cash transfer.

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.

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.

He further stated that: “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 Communication 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, “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,”

“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.