Cash Transfer: Nigeria Deploying World Bank’s $800m, Says NSIPA Boss

*States’ beneficiaries to get N25,000 for 3 months

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

The cash transfer programme which was initiated to cater for the needs of the vulnerable, including persons living with disability and senior citizens, is expected to gulp the sum of $800 million, the National School Investment Programme (NSIPA), has said.

According to the organisation, beneficiaries are expected to get N25,000  monthly stipend for three months, stressing that the agency was targeting 15 million households and so far has continued with over 1,500, 000 beneficiaries.
The funds will be generated by the World Bank and under the supervision of NSIPA will attend to registered participants from the 36 states of the federation, including Abuja, it said.

National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of NSIPA, Halima Shehu, who spoke in Abuja at the weekend , said that the system has now been fully digitised and every body in the national social register has a bank account and a Bank Verification Number (BVN).

According to her, the agency is working towards giving everyone of them national identification numbers in order to strengthen the accountability process.
She said: “The conditional cash transfer programme is a fully funded project by the world bank and we’re working with $800 million. There is a national social register and it is a collection of states’ social register and all the 36 states and  Abuja  are participants.

“Under my watch, we have successfully kick-started the conditional cash transfer programme founded by World Bank with N25,000 monthly stipend for three months and we are targeting 15 million households and so far over 1,500, 000 beneficiaries have received this stipend.
“We have flagged off the grants for vulnerable groups in Kogi with N20,000 one-off grant that target the higher percentage of persons living with disabilities  and both grants are to smoothen consumption and cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.”

Concerning the possibility of the programme being hijacked, she said that she did not give any directive to anyone from her office to put any list together.
“I don’t know who is telling them to collate list because I do know that both rapid response register and the national social register cannot be influenced by any other person outside the key people who have structured the programme and are supervising the programmes, which is the world bank.
“The system has been fully digitised. Everybody in the national social register has a bank account, a BVN and right now, we are working towards giving everyone of them NIN and this is to strengthen the accountability process,” she added.

In the same vein, Shehu revealed that the N100 that was approved for each child under the feeding programme by the last administration had been reviewed in the face of the present economic hardship.
She said it was expected that each meal given to the pupils from primary one to three in public schools as well as the Almajiri schools now captured in the scheme must be well balanced to help in growth and vitality.

She said: “At the moment, we’re feeding 10,420,000 primary one to three pupils in public schools. For the quality of food, it will interest Nigerians to know that each child had been budgeted N70 to be fed in daily basis and from that amount, you’re expected to provide a balanced meal.
“In the last two cycles of feeding these children, the budget was increased to N100 per child. Looking at the economic situation, in the country, that is not possible and that’s why since this government assumed office, we have not fed children because we are looking at the economic situation and the reality on ground,” she added.