The Federal Government says it has disbursed more than N600 billion to over 10 million households through its cash transfer scheme since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, disclosed this on Wednesday during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme.
Doro said the cash transfer scheme was introduced to provide direct support to poor and vulnerable households and help improve their living conditions.
According to him, the number of households reached could represent about 40 million Nigerians, based on an average household size of four people.
“We have done over N600 billion in cash transfers to be able to support vulnerable Nigerians within three years,” Doro said.
The minister maintained that the intervention was intended to cushion the difficulties faced by Nigerians living at the lowest levels of the economic ladder.
Doro also defended the value of the payments made under the programme, arguing that amounts that might appear insignificant to wealthier Nigerians could have substantial value for extremely poor households.
He specifically cited the N25,000 payment made to beneficiaries.
“N25,000 can look very small to elites, but not to the poorest of the poor,” he said.
Doro said his ministry’s responsibility was to ensure that improvements in the wider economy translated into tangible benefits for vulnerable Nigerians.
“My job is to translate macroeconomic gains as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction. I translate the microeconomic gains to the micro level, and you can see the traction,” he said.
The government has also combined the cash intervention with other programmes targeting livelihoods and income generation.
The minister disclosed that more than 18,000 people had undergone vocational skills training under a separate government programme.
Beneficiaries, he said, received starter kits and stipends after completing their training.
They were also exposed to additional lessons in business management and accounting, which Doro said were designed to help them establish and manage sustainable businesses.
The government is similarly implementing interventions targeting farmers as part of efforts to improve livelihoods and reduce poverty.
These initiatives, according to the minister, are intended to complement the cash transfer scheme by helping vulnerable Nigerians move towards more sustainable sources of income.
Doro also addressed concerns over the possibility of worsening food insecurity in northern Nigeria.
He said the government was monitoring projections indicating that more than 70 million people across nine conflict-affected states could face acute food insecurity.
However, the minister cautioned that the figures represented projections and should not be interpreted as confirmation that all the people identified would necessarily experience food insecurity.
He said the government was taking steps to respond to potential risks before they escalate.
According to Doro, the Federal Government recently implemented a presidential intervention on food and nutrition across 10 northern states.
He said the ministry would continue monitoring developments and introduce interventions where necessary.
The minister’s comments come as the government continues to combine direct social protection programmes with livelihood initiatives aimed at easing hardship among vulnerable Nigerians.
For the beneficiaries, the scale of the cash transfer scheme represents one of the Federal Government’s major direct interventions since 2023, while the administration continues to face pressure to ensure that broader economic reforms translate into improved household welfare.
