TheCable

Betta Edu, minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, says the federal government is working to lift 50 million Nigerians out of poverty, three months after saying the target was to lift 133 million. 

Speaking on the second day of a three-day retreat for ministers and presidential aides at the State House conference centre in Abuja, Edu said N25,000 is currently being paid to a number of vulnerable households and that would go on for three months, amounting to N75,000.

The minister said this is an immediate measure to cushion the hardship being experienced in the country.

“However, we’re taking our time going through the rigorous process. And the reason is simple,” she said.

“We want to be sure that the right people get the money, we identify them, they have their NINs, they have their BVNs and they paid. We don’t want to rush into paying people and then you realise that they don’t even exist.⁣⁣
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“That’s why we went through the process of verification, and payments have started. Different states across the country can attest to this. And individual poor households as well. And this we will make public so it’s not even secret. Public so that Nigerians can hold us accountable. ⁣⁣
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“This is 15 million households, which automatically amounts to about 61 million persons.”

She said apart from this measure, President Bola Tinubu would create jobs for millions of Nigerians “through different methods”.

“We have the people we want to reach. An addition of all of these people together will give us a way to over 50 million persons that will be directly reached by the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” the minister said.

Edu said her ministry would collaborate with the ministries of finance, health, and education, among others to ensure that Nigerians are pulled out of multi-dimensional poverty.

In August, Edu had said the government is determined to lift 133 million Nigerians out of poverty.