Federal Government of Nigeria has said state governors will henceforth be in charge of the distribution of palliative measures in their respective states.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouk, said this on Monday in Abuja at the 10th joint national briefing of the committee.
She said this in response to a question on if the government is thinking of changing the strategy of sharing the palliatives amidst criticisms and dissatisfaction over the handling of the policy.
It would be recalled that last week, governors of the 36 states had asked the Federal Government to allow each state oversee the distribution of palliatives to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on Nigerians.
The minister during the briefing said;
Going forward, we’ve decided to hand over these food relief (items) to the state governors for onward redistribution to their citizens, the poor and vulnerable in the society. In fact, I’ve started that. I was in Lagos last week and Ogun states and I’ve handed over trucks of food relief to these governors.
She added that;
So far, we’ve reached out to the three affected states that have been locked down by the federal government, the two states (Lagos and Ogun) plus the FCT. Also, we’ve deployed some food relief to two south eastern states of Imo and Ebonyi specifically.
While responding to a question on disbursement of cash to the vulnerable poor, Umar-Farouk said;
I’ve mentioned it before that this is an approval that has been in existence since 2016 and we’re using the exiting register. We’ll give them N5,000 per month, but now that Mr. President has directed that we give two months advance, that’s why we’re giving this N20,000.
Yes, it’s a process that’s really cumbersome, but with transparency and accountability, the ministry has already begun the digitalization of this process.
She added that the ministry has four pilot states on digital payroll, but hopes to include all other states in the coming month.
Umar-Farouk explained that;
And we’re using mobile phones, wallets because the BVN of these beneficiaries exist, but it is not all of them that are on the banking system. So, we’re looking at all these issues.
Speaking on the possible expansion of the register, Umar-Farouk stated that they are working on the possible expansion of the register.
The minister said the ministry’s main focus for the time being is the urban poor because “these are the people that have now become vulnerable as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown.”
She added that;
We’re also focusing on people living with disabilities. Already, we’ve some numbers in our existing sub-national social register, but now we’re going to focus more on registering these people with special needs.
