Nation
FG Disburses Monthly Stipend To 15,562 Poor People In Osun
The Federal Government (FG), through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs , Disaster Management and Social Development, has embarked on the disbursement of monthly stipends, using debit cards, to 15,562 poor and vulnerable persons in Osun State.
The Tide source reports that at Boripe Local Government Secretariat, on Tuesday, 187 vulnerable persons were issued Debit Cards for the payment of their monthly stipends.
Osun Coordinator of Household Uplifting Programme-Conditional Cash Transfer (HUP-CCT), Mrs Iyabo Ayofe, explained that the FG has now digitalised the payment system.
Ayofe told the beneficiaries that their stipends (money) would be paid/loaded on the debit cards henceforth, stating that they can always withdraw their money on any Point of Sales (POS) machine or Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) at any time.
She said that the debit card has now erased the “cash by hand” mode of payment, and that anytime the beneficiaries are notified of payment, they can go to the ATM or use the POS closer to them to collect their money.
“The cards being issued to beneficiaries today are preloaded with N30,000 for the payment of the backlog of 2020 stipends.
“About 4,000 of the beneficiaries, however, would have more than N30,000 loaded on their cards because these category of beneficiaries have additional health expenses and dependants like pregnant women, breast feeding mothers and those with children from zero to five years.
“This digitalisation mode of payment makes payment easy, eliminates attack on beneficiaries by criminals and makes it easier for beneficiaries to withdraw their money wherever they are, at any point in time,” she said.
She, however, said the distribution of the debit cards to beneficiaries would only cover eight local government areas (as the pilot phase), but would be extended to the remaining 22 local government areas and area offices subsequently.
Ayofe said the Household Uplifting Programme/Conditional Cash Transfer is part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise to pull 100 million poor and vulnerable Nigerians out of poverty.
Also speaking, Osun Focal Person on National Social Investment Programme and the Senior Special Adviser to the Osun Governor on Social Investment Programme, Mr Lukman Bello, said the HUP-CCT, the new digitalised method of payment, is far better than the old “cash by hand” system because it eliminates insecurity. He advised beneficiaries to always keep the PIN of their debt cards secured.
He said the FG was paying the poor and vulnerable people in the state the stipends bi-monthly from January to June 2020, but had to suspend the payment because of the Corona Virus outbreak.
Bello said the FG has, however, re-continued the payment and that what the government is now paying the beneficiaries is the balance payment for July to December 2020.
“What we are owing beneficiaries is actually about 14 months stipends, but what we are paying now is the six months backlog of last year/July to December.
“After the end of the payment exercise, in the next three to four months, the stipend payment shall continue seamlessly,” he said
Mrs Isiah Olaitan and Mrs Muyilatu Oyewole, two of the beneficiaries from Boripe Local Government, praised the FG for the intervention, saying the money had really helped them to sustain themselves and also help their business growth.
They both, coincidentally, said they rear goats and chickens and that the stipends had been of immense help in boosting their little businesses.
The Chairman of Malumfashi Local Government Council of Katsina State, Maharazu Dayi, has been impeached.
Maharazu Dayi was impeached yesterday by 11 out of 12 councillors, barely two days before the local government elections in the State.
The councillors reportedly took action following allegations of misconduct and poor governance against the chairman after a dispute over the distribution of the council’s Paris Club funds.
The development has sent shock waves across the local government area, especially as the impeached chairman is among those who failed to secure the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest in the forthcoming election.
The Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association, Mile 1, Port Harcourt, has urged the state government to utilise the available spaces within the area to build phase 3 of the Rumuwoji Market in order to solve the ever increasing needs of traders.
The association, which said this at a media briefing in Port Harcourt, also described as a welcomed development the decision by the state Governor to open the phase 2 of the market for business.
According to the association, “We consider it as an answer to the various cries of the people, because he is a man on a mission who is out to place the interest of Rivers people first. It is a dream come true for the first time for the market to be dully allocated and open for business”
Chairman of the association, Hon Godspower Wobo, who briefed the press shortly after a meeting of the association in Port Harcourt, also urged the public to disregard the activities of some persons whose stock in trade is to cause disaffection in the market.
He said the attention of the association was drawn to the activities of some strange fellows who went about misforming the people about situation in the market, stressing that apart from his association, no other group exists in the market except subdiary unions.
Wobo also tasked the reallocation committee to tread with caution so as to avoid being deceived by any group.
According to him, time has come for the state government to engage in robust discussion with aggrieved shop owners who went to court and those who paid monies to the state coffers and issued with allocation certificates for the overall interest of peace.
He also advised the public to deal directly with his association, stressing that the meeting was to review activities for the last year as well as unveil their new Constitution.
Also speaking, former Chairman of the association, Deacon Kenneth Eze urged the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara to open the phase 2 of the market, as it is long overdue.
Eze who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the association also urged the public to do business with only the Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association as it is the only union recognised by the traders.
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, has debunked reports linking him with the race for Nigeria’s presidency in 2027.
Reacting to the report on his X handle yesterday, following a recent interview with Arise TV, the AfDB boss said his quotes were misrepresented and misinterpreted in several Nigerian media reports.
However, the AfDB president denied the media reports, stating that he never said that he wanted to contest for President.
“A segment of my recent interview on @Arise TV has been both misinterpreted and misrepresented in several Nigerian media outlets. What I said was, “I will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere, including my own country.”
“A listen to the substantive and robust interview, which is available online, will show this to be the case. For clarity and for the record, I did not say that I am running for the office of President of Nigeria,” Adesina said.
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