TheCable

The federal government says it will commence payment of N25,000 special grant under its conditional cash transfer (CCT) scheme to vulnerable pensioners by November. 

Betta Edu, minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, disclosed this during a meeting with Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), in Abuja on Wednesday. 

During his Independence Day speech, President Bola Tinubu said the federal government will begin cash transfer of N75,000 to 15 million vulnerable households at N25,000 per month, for three months. 

Edu said for the funds to be accessed, beneficiaries must be captured on the national social register.

Edu told the leadership of the labour union that the desire to expand the national social register to include vulnerable pensioners in the CCT scheme was encapsulated in the renewed hope agenda.

She urged the NLC to help fast-track the process of collating data of would-be vulnerable pensioner beneficiaries so that they can start receiving CCT.

“President Tinubu mentioned very clearly that vulnerable pensioners should be immediately captured on the national social register and benefit from the CCT,” Edu said. 

“I want us to fast-track this so that we are sure the expected beneficiaries can start receiving their stipends from next month, which is November.”

The minister commended Ajaero for being a team player, adding that the task of moving Nigeria forward was a collective one.

In his response, Ajaero expressed delight at the various poverty alleviation and job creation schemes rolled out by the humanitarian ministry.

He said identifying the root cause of poverty would go a long way in addressing the challenge in the country.

“Let’s look at not only how to solve this problem, but the cause of the problem. Let us look at other social welfare interventions and job creation that will go a long way to support families,” he said.

He asked the federal government to create a more productive economy by creating more jobs to ensure a prosperous nation.

On his part, Godwin Abumisi, president of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), thanked the federal government for finding retirees worthy of social intervention programmes.

Abumisi said pensioners receive as low as between N5,000 and N10,000 a month.

He said “N25,000 is big money to them” and would go a long way.