The Federal Government’s (FG) Renewed Hope Cash Transfer scheme is expected to help 138,015 poor families in Nasarawa State.
Mrs Rhoda Agbawu, the Nasarawa State Programme Manager of The Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer Office, made the announcement on Friday in Lafia during the commencement of a three-day orientation program for desk officers from the state’s 13 Local Government Areas (LGAs).
Agbawu stated that the recipients, picked from the state’s 13 LGAs, would each get N25,000 for three months.
She said that the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer Programme was an expansion of the National Social Safety Nets Project, which began over five years ago.
“To coincide with President Bola Tinubu’s policy vision, the exercise was rebranded as the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer Programme.
“The rebranding came with a lot of improvement where the beneficiaries in the state were increased from 48,624 to 138,015 across all the LGAs as against just six LGAs in the past,” Agbawu said.
The project manager indicated that the office had already enrolled 80, 000 homes out of a total of 138,015 beneficiaries when the procedure was paused.
She stated that the scheme was temporarily halted to allow recipients to create accounts and link their Bank Verification Numbers to their National Identity Numbers.
“The process for enrolment and payment to the beneficiaries is now digitised to ensure accountability and transparency,” she stated.
Agbawu stated that the training’s purpose was to educate desk officers on the program’s new improvements and ensure its execution.
Margaret Elayo, Commissioner for Special Duties, Humanitarian, Social Services, and Non-Governmental Organizations, praised the desk officers and other personnel for their achievements in implementing the plan thus far.
Elayo, represented by the ministry’s Director of Administration, Hajiya Fatima Dauda, noted that Nasarawa State was ranked well for implementing the National Social Safety Nets Project.
She attributed the success to the implementation team’s devotion and effort and urged them to keep up the pace.
Mohammed Dabo and Ruth Dachi, Desk Officers for Lafia and Akwanga LGAs, respectively, told journalists that the training will introduce them to the latest modifications in the cash transfer initiative.
They guaranteed rigorous monitoring of the recipients to ensure that the funds were used to enhance the lives of their families.