President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has not yet initiated the payment of N75,000 to vulnerable Nigerians, despite the confirmation from the World Bank about the disbursement of part of Nigeria’s $800 million fuel subsidy removal palliatives loan.
According to a World Bank document, the development bank has disbursed $299.99 million, which represents 37.5 percent of the loan, to the Federal Government under the National Social Safety Net Program-Scale Up. However, there remains $442.88 million yet to be disbursed to Nigeria.
This initiative was introduced by the government to cushion the economic impact of fuel subsidy removal since June 2023. The $800 million Social Safety Net Programme entails a conditional cash transfer designed to be implemented by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs & Poverty Alleviation.
The aim of the loan is to facilitate a monthly cash transfer program for impoverished and vulnerable Nigerians greatly affected by recent policies, including fuel subsidy removal.
Despite President Bola Tinubu’s official launch of a conditional cash transfer scheme in October 2023, promising 15 million households N75,000 within three months (October to December 2023), amounting to N1.13 trillion for the period, the disbursement is yet to commence.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, mentioned that 61 million Nigerians stand to benefit from the scheme every month during October, November, and December. This translates to 15 million households receiving 75,000 Naira over three months, impacting around 61 million Nigerians through the conditional cash transfer.
The World Bank Country Representative, Shubham Chaudhuri, supported the idea of cash transfers as a way to alleviate poverty.
“This aid is crucial in helping them overcome the initial period during which they might otherwise be compelled to make decisions with long-term consequences”, he stated.
As of now, the program hasn’t been put into action despite the challenges Nigerians face, including a high inflation rate of 27.33 per cent in October.
