Federal Government on Tuesday disclosed plans for the disbursement of the proposed N8,000 palliative to 12 million poor Nigerians.
The disbursement which is to be coordinated by the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO), headed by Mr. Yowa Apera, would be paid through the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO).
In an exclusive interview with Nigerian Tribune, Mr Apera the payments of the N8,000 will be done by digital transfers direct to the bank accounts or mobile wallets of the beneficiaries through the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO).
According to him, the beneficiary will be paid the monthly stipend (in phases) for a period of 6 months.
When asked about any ongoing efforts to update the social register with a view to include more vulnerable citizens, he said: “The National Social Safety Nets programme – Scale Up is designed to mine from the National Social Register as the primary source of data to deliver the Federal Government’s benefits to mostly rural households.
“For the urban poor dealing with the shocks of the subsidy removal who have yet to be documented in the social register, the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) will deploy a targeting mechanism that enables those to benefit to apply for assistance by responding to text message (SMS) prompts supported by a USSD platform.
“Once their applications are received for processing and they undergo a validation process, involving a visit to their residence for authentication to establish that they genuinely qualify for assistance, they will be eligible to access this intervention.
“NASSCO has already designed and tested this technology based approach for the registration of categorical targets called the Rapid Response Register (RRR) which was used to deliver assistance during the Covid-19 lockdowns.”
Speaking further on the N8,000 monthly palliatives, Mr. Apera said: “The payments will be done by digital transfers direct to the bank accounts or mobile wallets of the beneficiaries. This process will be handled by the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO). Each beneficiary will be paid the monthly stipend for a period of 6 months. Given the volume of beneficiaries this intervention targets, payments will be phased into different batches.”
When asked whether there’s any communication from Federal Government on possible date for the take-off disbursement of the N8,000 palliatives, he said: “The public and most notably target beneficiaries will be informed well ahead of time through different channels when disbursement is set to commence, with every other information they need to know.”
