- The disclosure was made on Thursday in Abuja through a statement by Rasheed Zubair, the media aide to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu
The federal government announced its intention to initiate the distribution of N25,000 grants to vulnerable pensioners nationwide starting in November.
These grants will be directed towards members of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners who are included in the expanded national social register of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme.
The disclosure was made on Thursday in Abuja through a statement by Rasheed Zubair, the media aide to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu.
The statement highlighted that this planned grant distribution was communicated during a meeting with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) led by its president, Joe Ajaero, in Abuja.
The minister said, “The President mentioned very clearly that vulnerable pensioners should be immediately captured on the National Social Register and benefit from the Conditional Cash Transfer, as part of the national social safety net expansion and this was made clear in his speech on Independence day where he committed N25,000 for 15million households for three months”
“Let’s look at not only how to solve this problem, but the cause of it, if we continue to treat the effects of poverty, the problem will persist. Let us look at other social welfare interventions and job creation that will go a long way to support families,” he advised.
He also emphasised the need for the FG to provide more jobs by creating a productive economy where factories are functioning and employing workers.
On his part, the president of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Godwin Abumisi, described the N25,000 grant as ‘big money to them’, but decried that some pensioners receive between N5,000 to N10,000 monthly.