The federal government has so far disbursed N24.8 billion in grants to 413,630 beneficiaries of its Special Public Works Program (SPWP ).
Minister of State for Labor Festus Keyamo made this known Thursday in Abuja during the weekly briefing organized by the Presidential Communication Team.
The Special Public Works Program, domiciled at the National Directorate of Employment, a parastatal body of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, was introduced in October 2019, following for the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The program aims to address the unemployment problem as well as cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nigerians, especially people in rural areas across the country.
Keyamo said: “This morning people started to receive their payment of 40,000 naira each; it is for those who received 20,000 N before but for those who had not received before and have finished their work, we pay them 60,000 N each.
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“So you will hear jubilation across the country because of it and this N60,000 will save so many lives across the country.
“It will surely revive the economy because we have designed it in such a way that all areas of local government benefit from it.
“It’s going to stimulate the economy from the bottom up because the beneficiaries will add this money to their businesses.
“So this morning we have so far paid 413,630 people out of the 774,000, so we hit about 60%.
“All of these people got N60,000 each and the total we paid is N 24,817,800, real money given to Nigerians to cushion the effects of COVID-19 at the grassroots.”
However, the minister said that all of the 774,000 targeted beneficiaries may not be reached due to the specifics of the selection process.
“In a big program like this, we might not reach the 774,000 people until the last number, but for me, if we are able to reach and pay up to 600,000 people, we would have achieved a lot.
“With the remaining balance, we would go back to government coffers if we can’t have real people coming in and being entitled to this.
“I mean real people with real identity and correct Bank Verification Number (BVN) so we don’t resort to paying ghosts we will refund the balance to you,” he said.
Keyamo also expressed optimism that the program would not fall apart when the Buhari administration’s tenure expires in 2023.
According to him, the program is one of various programs that the government will implement every year and people will be enrolled in it.
“It’s a very good program and we will continue to improve as it is a huge program that will require a lot of logistics, especially when you want to execute it perfectly.
“I may not be here tomorrow as Minister, but we have set a model that future program managers will follow in the future to ensure that it is tight in terms of selection.
“As part of the government’s FEC-approved poverty reduction program, the president is very serious about lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty over the next 10 years and we are considering different strategies to achieve this.
“I assure you that this will not be lost as there is already approval from the FEC for the special public works program to be an annual event,” he added. (NAN)