102,650 Edo residents to benefit from FG cash transfer

The Edo State Government has said that 102,650 persons in 1,969 communities across the 18 local government areas of the state will benefit from the second phase of the ‘Renewed Hope Cash Transfer’ of the Federal Government.

The General Manager, Social Investment Programme in the state, Yuwa Aladeselu, said this at a one-day refresher training of local government cash transfer facilitators in Benin City on Wednesday.

Aladeselu said the Renewed Hope Cash Transfer of the Federal Government is under the National Social Safety Nets Project Scale-Up.

The Edo State SIP boss, who said the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, was interested in any intervention that would help or provide succour for the poor and vulnerable, noted that the state had a social register of over 1.6 million persons.

She added that about 314,000 households were captured in the register which also includes persons living with disability, among others.

In her remarks, Head, Edo State Cash Transfer Unit, Flora Bossey, said over 12,108 beneficiaries were enrolled and paid during the first phase of the programme implementation in the state in 2022.

Bossey said 40,647 beneficiaries had 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 and Rapid Response Register.

She said the cash transfer was in line with the vision of the Federal Government to provide 15 million poor and vulnerable Nigerians under the Expanded National Social Safety Nets Programme Scale-Up.

She added that the scale-up was designed to support new beneficiaries for economic shock response cash transfer in urban areas.

Bossey also said the programme includes the Extended Regular Cash Transfer in rural areas across the country as well as transfers to existing beneficiaries that were yet to reach 12 cycles of payment to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy.

On his part, the Enrolment Officer/ Beneficiaries Management Officer of the National Cash Transfer Office, Mohammed Adams, 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.

“All beneficiaries will receive their funds directly through 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.