ActionAid demands answers over Nigeria’s 50,000-naira aid
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on ThisDay
ActionAid Nigeria is asking the federal government to publish the funding, selection criteria and payment arrangements for its 50,000 naira assistance for vulnerable people. The organisation notes a contradiction between the announcement of monthly payments and the programme website, which describes a one-off grant, according to ThisDay.
ActionAid Nigeria is calling on the federal government to provide details about the funding, beneficiary selection criteria and disbursement of its 50,000 naira assistance for poor and vulnerable households. In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday 1 November, its country director, Andrew Mamedu, called for the publication of the total budget committed, funds released and administrative costs of the programme, ThisDay reports.
The organisation points to a contradiction over the duration of the assistance: the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, described it as monthly, while the programme’s official website presents it as a one-off grant. ActionAid notes that monthly payments of 50,000 naira to one million households would cost 50 billion naira a month; for five million households, the bill would reach 250 billion.
ActionAid also questions the use of the national social protection register to select beneficiaries. The office coordinating these social safety nets says the register includes more than 20 million poor and vulnerable households. The organisation wants clarification on how households recently pushed into poverty will be identified and calls for priority to be given to women-headed households, people with disabilities, internally displaced people, older people and vulnerable rural communities.
The government announced 50,000 naira a month in assistance for vulnerable households on 31 October, a measure whose rationale the Nigerian PDP disputed.
