The federal government has flagged off the disbursement of N20,000 cash grants to vulnerable groups numbering 2,900.
The Minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, Sadiya Umar Farouq who spoke in Abuja, during the re-launch of the programme which hitherto was known as cash grant for rural women, explained that the initiative will now be known as Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG) with a view to encouraging inclusivity.
She observed that the grant for vulnerable groups programme was introduced in 2020 to sustain the social inclusion agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
“It is consistent with the national target of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years. It is designed to provide a one-off grant to some of the poorest and most vulnerable women in rural and peri-urban areas of the country. A cash grant of N20,000.00 is being disbursed to poor women and youths across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
“Our target in the FCT is to disburse the grant to over 2,900 beneficiaries across the six area councils. In line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s social inclusion, 70% of the total number of beneficiaries is for women while the remaining 30% is for men.
“In addition, about 15% of the total number of beneficiaries is specifically allocated to the segment of the population with special needs, including Persons with disabilities (PWDs), internally displaced persons (IDPs) and senior citizens in the FCT,” she noted.
While performing a symbolic disbursement of the grant to some beneficiaries, the minister urged them to use the cash judiciously.
In her remarks, the national coordinator, Conditional cash transfer, Hajiya Halima Shehu also announced that the grant for vulnerable groups is now fully digitised.
“From the national cash transfer office, we have fully digitised the process. We have over 1.9 million beneficiaries that now have NUBAN accounts across commercial banks in the country.
“This is a huge milestone because records have shown that there is no programme of this type that has achieved such a success story.
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