Nigeria’s leading transparency platform, Tracka, has disclosed thousands of beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s Conditional Cash Transfer, days after some persons claimed it was a scam.
Investigating the scheme, Tracka went to Imo state, southeast Nigeria, to verify the existence of the programme and its beneficiaries.
“Today, our team tracked the FG conditional cash transfer in Ikeduru LGA, Imo State,” Tracka wrote on its official Twitter account.
Today, our team tracked the FG conditional cash transfer in Ikeduru LGA, IMO State.We observed that 7,200 beneficiaries were selected from 12 wards across the LGA, they all received N20,000. They presented their ID card to the coordinator using the register for screening.#Covid19 pic.twitter.com/h1prERnCsm
— TrackaNG (@TrackaNG) April 10, 2020
“We observed that 7,200 beneficiaries were selected from 12 wards across the LGA, they all received N20,000.
“They presented their ID card to the coordinator using the register for screening,” the tweet that was accompanied with pictures and video showed.
The Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments had earlier stated and reaffirmed that the beneficiaries of the scheme did not want to be disclosed because they were protected by the FOI Act.
“It was further asserted, apparently, that because the beneficiaries are not known personally to the NASS members, the National Social Register is a ‘scam’ and needs to be reformed through a process that is ‘more inclusive’ of the NASS. REGRETTABLE and DANGEROUS, she said in a statement to the National Assembly.
“The NSR comprises persons selected by the communities directly, within the constituencies of each of the NASS members. No person has been imported from one community to the other. They have been identified as very poor by the communities in which they reside and may not necessarily be known by the lawmakers. Verification of their identity and status is possible, as has been for all investigative journalists and monitors, through the CTFs.
“It should be noted that Nigeria has signed a Financing Agreement with the World Bank, in which the process of identification of beneficiaries was set out. Any departure from the process, which would place at risk the accessibility to the IDA Credit and the recovered funds from the Abacha family.
