Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, has pledged to publish the names of beneficiaries of the Presidential Conditional Grant Programme in January 2024. The commitment to transparency was made during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
The Presidential Conditional Grant Programme, initiated to mitigate the impact of the fuel subsidy removal, commenced in early December. Minister Edu emphasized the government’s commitment to establishing a transparent system, leveraging technology to provide easy access to information about beneficiaries from anywhere in the world.
Edu stated, “We want to run a transparent system. We are setting up a site where the names of people that benefit from any of the federal government intervention programs can be checked from anywhere in the world. We want to make it public and transparent so that the government can gain the confidence of Nigerians.”
Highlighting the deployment of various technologies, Edu mentioned both government-owned systems and private platforms like Remita, facilitating direct payments from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Treasury Single Account into the beneficiaries’ accounts without intermediary consultants.
The ongoing focus, according to Edu, involves the enrollment of more individuals, particularly those without established financial structures like banks. She assured that the names of federal government grant beneficiaries would be published in January, providing clarity on who received what.
This move aims to enhance accountability, build trust among Nigerians, and demonstrate the government’s commitment to transparency in its intervention programs.
