The federal government has reiterated its commitment to fish out and punish anyone exploiting beneficiaries of the N5,000 Conditional Cash Transfer monthly stipend; in order to serve as deterrence to others.
The National Cash Transfer Programme is one of federal government’s four Social Investment Programmes (SIP) designed to deliver cash transfers to beneficiary households; in order to improve their condition of living, including consumption, health, nutrition, among others.
However, addressing newsmen Thursday in Abuja during the launch of the Third-Party Monitors for the National Social Safety Nets Project, Senior Adviser to President Buhari on Social Investments, Hajiya Mariam Uwais, said that “some community leaders and youths are exploiting beneficiaries of the N5,000 monthly stipends to poor and vulnerable households, because they are ignorant”.
She called on non governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations (CSOs) and well meaning Nigerians to intervene in monitoring the process by visiting communities, even as she said that government is working with security agencies to investigate reported cases of extortion.
She said: “A lot of our beneficiaries are rural women who don’t know how to use POS and should be supported. Many of these women don’t even have handsets. Communities selected the beneficiaries, so it is a project of the community, not a religious or political affair. Unfortunately, we have been getting reports of extortion of beneficiaries and it is alarming that people would even think of stealing from the poor. The extortion is done by community youths, community leaders and traditional rulers through different guises such as levies.
“Just this morning, I got a text from someone on the extortion, which we intend to investigate. Our contacts are out there, but, like I said, many of these women don’t even have handsets. Therefore, we need the support of well-meaning Nigerians, especially NGOs and CSOs in visiting them to report. DSS is also giving us discreet information, but it is not enough, because the country is vast. We need a hard example out there of what happens to people who steal from poor people.”
In his remarks at the event, the National Coordinator of National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), Mr Iorwa Apera, said involvement of CSOs in the scheme would ensure transparency and accountability.
“The Third-Party Monitoring is designed to have state-based CSOs with experience and technical capacity monitoring the cash transfer programme in the states we operate. It will also serve as a mechanism through which beneficiaries and their communities can gain confidence in their ability to get quality service,” he said.
