COVID-19 Lockdown: FG Flags-Off Cash Transfer in Lagos, says Sanwo-Olu

AgegePulse Magazine

The Federal Government has begun the conditional transfer of N20,000 to residents of Lagos State as part of efforts to reduce the effect of the coronavirus lockdown.

This was revealed on Friday night by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who said he received the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, in his office.

Over 160 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Lagos State out of the over 300 infections reported in Nigeria.

Sanwo-Olu said the minister’s team was in Lagos to flag-off the conditional cash transfer and supply of relief food materials for the poor and vulnerable including the elderly, internally displaced persons, persons living with disabilities, petty traders, hawkers, labourers, amongst others.

The governor tweeted, “Today, I received the Hon Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq who was in Lagos with her team to flag off the conditional cash transfer and supply of relief food materials for the vulnerable.

“Our state is the epicenter of COVID-19 in Nigeria. We appreciate all the support we have received from the Federal Government. Again, I appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari for his leadership and for his invaluable support. We will not rest until Lagos is free of COVID-19.”

The FG had said beneficiaries of its conditional cash transfer had received it in Federal Capital Territory Abuja and some other states across the country.

Similarly, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State said on Friday that he received the minister of humanitarian affairs in his office in Abeokuta.

“The Honourable Minister handed over five truckloads of rice and one truckload of vegetable oil, as part of the relief materials that the Federal Government is donating to the state for further distribution to the poor, vulnerable and elderly.

“She gave her word to speed up the process of the FG’s cash transfer to the less privileged in Ogun State, in order to ensure that these beneficiaries remain well during the COVID-19 lockdown period, which was directed for the common good of everyone,” Abiodun wrote on Twitter.

- ThePunch

COVID-19: FG Commences N20,000 Conditional Cash Transfer To Poor Households

 AgegePulse Magazine

The Federal Government has commenced the disbursement of N20,000 Conditional Cash Transfer to indigent households (poor) at the Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

This is part of the Federal Government’s efforts to help reduce the effect of President Muhammadu’s lockdown order following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

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.”

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Nigerians To Start Paying For Bank Deposit, Withdrawal - CBN

AgegePulse Magazine

Effective Wednesday, September 18, cash deposits and withdrawals from individual bank accounts are to attract addition charges, the Central Bank of Nigeria said on Tuesday.


In a circular to all deposit money bank (DMBs), the Director, Payments System Management Department at the CBN, Sam Okojere, said henceforth 3 percent processing fees would be paid for withdrawals and 2 percent for deposits of amounts above N500,000 for individual accounts.

Similarly, corporate accounts will attract 5 percent processing fees for withdrawals and 3 percent processing fee for lodgments of amounts above N3 million.

The CBN said the charges would be in addition to already existing charges on withdrawals, and will be aimed at encouraging it’s cashless policy.


The statement, however, said the charge on deposits shall apply in Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Abia, Anambra, and Rivers States as well as the Federal Capital Territory.

To further promote a cashless economy and enhance the collection of applicable government revenues, the CBN also announced a review of the process for merchant settlement by bank customers.

With the review, which takes effect from Tuesday September 17, the CBN said it gave approval for banks to unbundle merchant settlement amounts and charge applicable taxes and duties on individual transactions as stipulated by regulations.


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$322m Abacha loot: Cash transfers to poor homes

The Federal Government says it will commence disbursement of the recovered 322 million dollars Abacha loot through Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) to 302,000 poor households in 19 states in July.

Mr Tukur Rumar, of the National Cash Transfer Office (NTCO), said this at a roundtable on assets recovery organised by the Swiss Embassy on Thursday, in Abuja.

The event was organised to intimate citizens and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on the efforts both nations were making on asset recovery after the Post-Global Forum on Assets Recovery (GFAR) held in Washington D.C. in Dec. 2017.

At the forum, Nigeria made commendable commitments on beneficial ownership, tax transparency, asset recovery, transparency management of recovered funds and payments to victims of corruption.

The states are: Niger, Kogi, Ekiti, Osun, Oyo, Kwara, Cross River, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarrawa, Anambra and Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs) in Borno.

According to Rumar, the benefiting households will receive N5,000 monthly and are derived from the National Social Register (NSR) that the 19 states are already on.

He said the programme was designed to also train beneficiaries on livelihood skills, social skills and other programmes that would change their lives completely.

Rumar, however, said that NCTO had been making payments to the 46,000 poor and vulnerable households across the 19 states since Dec. 2016, adding that the number had increased to 290,000.

Mr Iorwa Apera, the National Coordinator, National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO), said 503,055 households were already on the NSR register from the 19 states, adding that by July, there would be a social register for all the states of the federation.

He said that of the Abacha loot, about 302,000 poor homes across the 19 states would be mined by the NCTO to begin to receive the Abacha loot.

Apera told the participants that the Federal Government would begin with those states, because they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NASSCO to put in place certain infrastructure to empower the national register.

“Some of the states delayed, but the other ones were quick enough to set up infrastructure that allowed us to start work there, but all the states are now on board as they have set up their state operating offices and donated office equipment to us.

“As states come on board, we enroll and so they extend to the beneficiary register, and presently we are generating data in all the states now,’’ he said.

Mrs Linda Ekeator of the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment said the Abacha loot was invested in the social investment programme, because it was a programme that was already supported by the World Bank.

She said that before the money was returned to Nigeria, there was an agreement with the Swiss government that it should be used for alleviating poverty and this was to be done with the supervision of the World Bank.

The Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Eric Mayoraz said the 722 million dollars of the Abacha family money that was hidden in Switzerland was fully repatriated in 2005.

He also said that the 322 million dollars that was repatriated in Dec. 2017, was money that was frozen by the Swiss Attorney-General, but was not domiciled in Switzerland, but in other countries, mainly Luxembourg.

He, however, said measures had been put in place to ensure that Swiss banks were not used to hide stolen funds from other countries.

“For possible new cases, the Swiss legislation has fundamentally changed.

“The law in Switzerland does not allow bank secrecy anymore, and all banks and financial institutions have a due diligence duty to ask everyone coming with money where it is coming from.

“That does not mean that there are no illegal or stolen assets now in Switzerland, but then there is another instrument I signed myself with the Nigerian Ministry of Justice and Switzerland two years ago on mutual legal assistance and this is for new cases.

“Now, this agreement with our own Ministry of Justice and Nigeria is that there will be direct communication and exchange on mutual legal request and we are really collaborating with EFCC and other agencies in Nigeria,’’ Mayoraz.

The Executive Director, ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor, said for Nigerian citizens to not keep spreading rumours about the whereabouts of recovered loots, the government must be transparent in all the processes.

He also said that CSOs should be given access to the social register to enable it monitor properly whether or not the beneficiaries received what was due to them.