The National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) has said that the number of beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) of the Federal Government has reached about two million as the programme inches to an end.
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The Interim Head, NCTO, Dr Ibraheem Adam, stated this on the sidelines of a virtual International Financial Conference in Abuja. Adam, however, said that the programme which commenced in 2016 would come to an end by December 31, 2022.
He noted that the programme enrolled beneficiaries from the rural areas across 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) through community-based targeting, adding that the programme was so far able to reach 609 local governments, 6,272 wards, and 48,789 communities and reached a total of 1,940,325 beneficiaries in the National Beneficiary Register from inception to date.
“We came in at a good time in the history of Nigeria when the project we superintended over has the mandate to reduce poverty, and as you may know, our level of poverty is around 60 per cent of the population. So, the programme actually came in to reduce poverty and enhance human capital development and for us to do that, the tools we are using is the cash transfer, which is an extension of stipends to beneficiaries.
We have about 2 million beneficiaries that have been credited with cash into their own personal NUBAN account created by the banks for easy link to the ongoing international financial inclusion conference,” he said.
While commending President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Safiya Umar Farouq, Adam added that the cash transfer policy would remove 100 million Nigerians out of poverty. He noted that after giving the money, the beneficiaries were mobilised and trained on how to save and manage their money.
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