The World Bank has raised alarm over the low percentage of funds allocated to poor Nigerians, despite its long-term support, warning that only 44 percent of benefits from government safety-net spending reach truly poor Nigerians.
The World Bank noted that many programmes give the same amount of money to every household, even though some families are much larger and face more hardship.
Because the poorest families tend to be the largest, their support is spread too thin, reducing the real impact.
However, the World Bank, on Monday, on its official social media handle, said that well-targeted cash transfers, like the NASSP programme, can have positive results in reducing poverty when implemented properly.
This came immediately after the federal government said it is preparing to expand its cash transfer programme to reach more poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
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Finance Minister, Wale Edun, explained that the programme currently supports about 8.5 million households, with each household receiving N25,000 through a digital payment system.
Edun admitted that many Nigerians are worried about transparency, stating that the past government’s empowerment schemes were used to divert public funds.
He said the government verifies every beneficiary through their name and national identity number and pays directly into bank accounts or mobile wallets.
The minister also announced a new ward-based initiative that will send development funds directly to all 8,809 wards across the country.
Edun said the government wants to scale up these programmes to help more people affected by economic reforms.
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