The Federal Government has disbursed more than ₦600 billion in cash transfers to vulnerable Nigerians over the past three years, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction Bernard Doro has disclosed.
Doro made the disclosure during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, saying the intervention had reached slightly more than 10 million households.
“We’ve done over 600 billion in cash transfers to be able to support vulnerable Nigerians within three years. We have reached slightly over 10 million households,” he said.
His comments followed the launch of the Federal Government’s $1 billion Renewed Hope Social Protection Programme, designed to move vulnerable Nigerians beyond short-term relief and towards sustainable economic empowerment.
The programme, unveiled by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, includes the Household Prosperity and Empowerment Social Protection Project (HOPE-SP), which is aimed at establishing a coordinated social protection system to help households transition out of poverty.
Doro said the initiative would take a more targeted approach to poverty reduction by systematically tracking beneficiary households and measuring their progress towards economic independence.
“We have a system where we want to deliberately track poverty,” he said.
According to the minister, the programme will improve coordination among humanitarian interventions, social protection initiatives and poverty reduction efforts, while making households the central focus of government support.
The HOPE-SP initiative is expected to cover about 7.6 million vulnerable households across the country. Eligible beneficiaries will receive a one-off digital shock-response transfer of ₦40,000.
To qualify, households must be registered on the National Social Register and have their details validated with their National Identification Number (NIN). The government is also working with the National Identity Management Commission to facilitate NIN registration and strengthen the verification process.
‘Reforms Working’
Defending the government’s economic reforms, Doro said the removal of the petrol subsidy had contributed to greater stability in the economy.
He maintained that the effectiveness of the reforms should ultimately be assessed based on their impact on the lives and welfare of Nigerians.
