The Federal Government has begun the distribution of ₦20,000 conditional cash transfer to poor households in Abuja.
The disbursement is being done at the Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The fund is part of the Federal Government’s effort to help cushion the effect of the lockdown imposed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadia Umar-Farouk, said on Wednesday while kickstarting the disbursement that due to the scourge of COVID-19, the Federal Government is giving out N20,000 per person for the next four months starting from March 2020.
She explained that the President during his broadcast last week directed that the Conditional Cash Transfer should be given in advance of two months.
“We have directed immediate cash transfer to the poorest and most vulnerable households in the country,” she said.
“Because of this COVID-19, the vulnerable groups have to expand, because we are aware that there are people who live on daily wage, so we are also going to look at those groups of people to see how we can get this food relief intervention to them in this period.”