Government Spends N330bn On Social Safety Nets In 9 Months

The national authorities has disclosed that it spent astir ₦330 cardinal connected societal information nett programmes betwixt January and September 2025, targeting the poorest and astir susceptible households crossed the country.

The curate of concern and coordinating curate of the economy, Mr Wale Edun, and the nationalist coordinator of the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO), Ms Funmi Olotu, announced the figures connected Wednesday during a associated property briefing astatine the ministry’s office successful Abuja.

The renewed effort nether President Bola Tinubu’s medication followed the February 2024 constitution of the Special Presidential Panel connected Social Investment Programmes. The sheet was tasked with strengthening societal extortion measures to cushion the interaction of economical reforms, peculiarly rising prices.

According to Mr Edun, the programme is “now firmly backmost connected track” aft undergoing reforms to guarantee transparency, accountability, and sustainability.

“What has been enactment successful spot is simply a precise robust system. People are identified biometrically done their National Identity Number (NIN) and are paid digitally into their slope accounts oregon mobile wallets,” the curate stated.

Edun explained that the existent strategy guarantees a modern, semipermanent operation for societal extortion successful Nigeria.

“In immoderate modern economy, a societal information nett is an important aspect. Nigeria present has the ground for a modern societal extortion system. That was the committedness of Mr President, and that is what helium is present putting successful place,” helium said.

The medication had acceptable a people of reaching 15 cardinal households nationwide, with the anticipation that a further 7 cardinal would person payments earlier the extremity of the year.

“We expect that determination volition beryllium the quality to fund each twelvemonth for assistance to radical to beryllium paid straight astatine immoderate fixed constituent successful time,” helium added.

The programme initially aimed to supply ₦5,000 monthly payments to households for six months nether the erstwhile administration, funded by an $800 cardinal World Bank indebtedness facility. However, President Tinubu’s authorities accrued the payment to ₦25,000 per household, citing the request to connection greater alleviation successful the look of challenging reforms specified arsenic substance subsidy removal and speech complaint unification.

“The summation created a backing gap, which the Federal Government is covering to guarantee the programme remains connected course,” Edun explained.

Providing further details, NASSCO’s nationalist coordinator, Ms Olotu, revealed that astatine slightest 8.1 cardinal households had truthful acold benefited from the initiative, with immoderate receiving one, two, oregon 3 tranches of the ₦25,000 payment.

She attributed the staggered disbursements to the integration of the National Identification Number into the National Social Register.

“We person visited astir 7.9 cardinal households and obtained astir 10.2 cardinal NINs, of which the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has validated 9.6 million. Payments are made straight into beneficiaries’ accounts erstwhile their NINs are validated,” she explained.

Ms Olotu stressed that the registry was built connected globally recognised standards and is devoid of governmental influence.

“The National Social Register was built successful collaboration betwixt the Government of Nigeria and the World Bank. It uses astir 40 variables to place households. It is not a governmental register,” she said.

She disclosed that the registry presently contains information connected implicit 70 cardinal individuals, representing astir 19.7 cardinal households nationwide. According to her, enlargement is ongoing with enactment from improvement partners, but the eventual extremity is for each individuals successful the registry to benefit.

“By the extremity of this exercise, everybody connected the registry – implicit 70 cardinal individuals – should person their money,” Olotu said.

Both officials emphasised that the digitised, NIN-linked model would fortify transparency, forestall leakages, and guarantee that authorities interventions scope lone the intended beneficiaries.

They maintained that the reforms not lone supply contiguous alleviation but besides laic the instauration for a modern, sustainable societal information nett strategy susceptible of responding to aboriginal shocks.