FG Disburses Over N600 Billion in Cash Transfers to 10 Million Households

• Minister Bernard Doro revealed the Federal Government has reached over 10 million households with cash transfers since Tinubu took office
• Doro defended the programme’s N25,000 payments, arguing the amounts carry real weight for Nigeria’s poorest households
• The minister also disclosed a presidential food intervention covering 10 northern states amid acute food insecurity projections

Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of business journalism experience with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.

The Federal Government has paid out more than N600 billion in cash transfers to over 10 million Nigerian households in the three years since President Bola Tinubu assumed office, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, has said.

Doro disclosed the figures on Wednesday during an appearance on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, where he outlined the ministry’s interventions since 2023.

Scale of the Cash Transfer Programme

Read also

Shehu Sani reacts to Atiku’s fuel subsidy restoration promise

Placing the numbers in broader context, Doro said the 10 million beneficiary households could translate to roughly 40 million individuals, based on an average household size of four people. He framed the disbursements as a deliberate effort to shield Nigeria’s most vulnerable citizens from economic hardship.

Doro said:

“We have done over N600 billion in cash transfers to be able to support vulnerable Nigerians within three years.”

Responding to criticism that individual payments were too modest to make a difference, the minister pushed back firmly.

He said:

“N25,000 can look very small to elites, but not to the poorest of the poor.”

Beyond direct transfers, Doro said the government had rolled out a vocational skills programme that trained more than 18,000 people. Participants received starter kits, monthly stipends, and additional instruction in business management and accounting to help them set up and sustain small enterprises.

Doro also noted that the ministry was running a separate intervention to support smallholder farmers as part of its broader poverty reduction agenda, Vanguard reports.

Northern Food Insecurity Concerns

The minister was also asked about projections warning that more than 70 million people across nine conflict-affected states in northern Nigeria could face acute food insecurity.

Read also

2027 elections: Peter Obi speaks on Tinubu, Atiku’s academic records

Punch reports that Doro urged caution in interpreting the figures, saying they were projections rather than confirmed outcomes and that not everyone identified in the data would necessarily suffer food shortages.

He said the Federal Government had already responded with a presidential intervention on food and nutrition covering 10 northern states, and pledged to continue monitoring conditions on the ground.

Doro said his overarching aim was to ensure that gains at the macroeconomic level filtered through to ordinary Nigerians.

He said:

“My job is to translate macroeconomic gains as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction. I translate the microeconomic gains to the micro level, and you can see the traction.”

FG releases link for Nigerians to apply for N50m

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has set out the requirements and process for Nigerians who want to access housing finance under the National Housing Fund (NHF) Mortgage Loan scheme, covering purchases, construction, home improvement, and renovation.

The scheme allows eligible NHF contributors to borrow up to N50 million at an interest rate capped at 6% per annum.

FMBN provides the funds to accredited Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) at 4%, and the PMBs then lend to contributors at the 6% rate.

Source: Legit.ng