Unemployed, poor Nigerians to get n5000 monthly – FG

The Federal Government at the weekend declared that there are ongoing plans to implement one of its striking campaign promises that it will pay N5000 each to the poorest Nigerians across the country.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who gave the hint noted that government is “currently evaluating the best ways to collapse existing cash transfer and social welfare schemes to ensure consistency and alignment.

“Once this is completed, we will implement the first phase of this program, using recognized identification platforms and transparent payment solutions”, he added.

Osinbajo who disclosed this at the 10th Year Anniversary Lecture of Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State titled, ‘The Nigerian Economy and the Future’,

said the payment of N5000 each to poor Nigerians was necessary because “we cannot talk about the economy of the future without addressing how we move people out of poverty.

“One of the most striking promises we made during the campaign was the payment of Five Thousand Naira to the poorest Nigerians across the country”, he noted, even as he regretted that today, “about 112 million (66% of Nigerians) are deemed extremely poor, measured by World Bank parameter of those living on less than US$1.25 per day.”

The Vice President observed that the level of poverty explains much of the Nigerian situation because it affects all aspects of life,including why over a million Nigerians die yearly of preventable diseases.