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From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Edo State Government, yesterday, said a total of 102,650 persons in 1,969 communities across the 18 Local Government Areas of the state are to partake from the second phase of Renewed Hope Cash Transfer of the Federal Government.
Yuwa Aladeselu, General Manager, Social Investment Programme (SIP) in the state disclosed this at a one-day refresher training of local government cash transfer facilitators in Benin City.
Aladeselu said the Renewed Hope Cash Transfer of the Federal Government is under the National Social Safety Nets Project Scale Up (NASSP-SU).
The Edo State SIP General Manager, who said the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki is interested in any intervention that will help or provide succour for the poor and vulnerable, said that the state has a Social Register of over 1.6million persons.
She added that about 314,000 households were captured in the register which also include persons living with disability and among others.
Earlier, in her remarks, Flora Bossey, Head of Unit, Edo State Cash Transfer Unit said over 12,108 beneficiaries were enrolled and paid during the first phase of the implementation of the programme in the state in 2022.
She said that as at today, a total of 40,647 beneficiaries have been paid N25,000 across the 18 local government areas in the state including those who have bank accounts that were drawn from both the National Social Register (NSR) and Rapid Response Register (RRR).
Bossey said the cash transfer is in line with the vision of the Federal Government to provide 15million poor and vulnerable Nigerians under the Expanded National Social Safety Nets Programme Scale-Up.
She said the Expanded National Social Safety Nets Programme Scale-Up was designed to support new beneficiaries for Economic Shock Response Cash Transfer in Urban areas.
Bossey also said that the programme include Extended Regular Cash Transfer in rural areas across the country as well as transfers to existing cash transfer beneficiaries that are yet to reach 12 cycles of payment to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy.
Head of Unit State Cash Unit, Flora Bossey disclosed that in the first phase of the programme, only six local government areas out of the 18 local government areas representing two local governments each from the three senatorial district of the state benefitted from the phase of the programme but for this phase, all LGAs will benefit.
On his part, Mohammed Adams, Enrolment Officer/ Beneficiaries Management Officer, of the National Cash Transfer Office, said the training was to ensure that the facilitators find the biodata of a total of 101,404 persons who do not have valid bank accounts and enrol them to receive the renewed hope cash transfer.
According to him, the payment delivery mechanism will ensure that payment is delivered to the eligible beneficiary directly into their interoperable transactional accounts/wallets at the right time in a convenient manner.
“All beneficiaries will receive their funds directly interoperable transactional accounts/wallets thus leading to significant financial inclusion of the beneficiaries.
“We all know that times are hard, this intervention is to deliver support to those who need it most”, he said.
He, however, enjoined the facilitators to do their best to find the beneficiaries and capture them for the programme, noting that no one should be left behind.
