Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has asked the Federal Government to provide details of its N600 billion cash transfer programme.
Atiku raised questions about the number of beneficiaries and the amount reportedly spent under the scheme. He also questioned the whereabouts of the Nigerians the government said had received the payments. In a statement issued by his media team on Thursday, the former Vice President pointed to conflicting figures from the Tinubu administration.
The Presidency said in separate statements on July 16 and August 2 that the expanded cash transfer programme had reached 15 million vulnerable households. However, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Bernard Doro gave a different figure on August 26. He told Nigerians that the programme had reached only “slightly over 10 million households.”
Atiku Questions Conflicting Figures
Reacting to the figures, Atiku asked the Federal Government to explain the difference between the 15 million beneficiaries earlier announced and the latest figure from the minister. He also demanded details of the households that actually received the payments.
“So where did five million households go? These are not opposition figures. They are Tinubu’s figures contradicting Tinubu’s figures,” Atiku said.
Beyond the conflicting figures, Atiku questioned the amount reportedly spent on the programme. He said the government’s figures did not appear to match the number of beneficiaries announced. According to him, qualifying households were expected to receive N25,000 monthly for three months. This would amount to N75,000 for each household.
Atiku said paying 10 million households the full amount would require about N750 billion. He added that paying 15 million households would push the total above N1.1 trillion.
“The arithmetic is even more troubling. Nigerians were told qualifying households would receive N25,000 monthly for three months — N75,000 per household. If 10 million households received the full payment, that would be about N750 billion. If 15 million households did, it would exceed N1.1 trillion. Yet the government says it spent just over N600 billion,” he stated.
Atiku Demands Proof Of Payments
The ADC presidential candidate also questioned how the government arrived at its beneficiary figures. He asked whether officials simply used names from the existing social register or confirmed that the listed households actually received the money.
“How many names were merely lifted from an existing social register and presented as evidence of actual payment?” Atiku asked.
He argued that having a name on the social register does not prove that the person received any money.
“A name on a social register is not a bank alert. Counting people in a database is not the same thing as proving money reached them,” he added.
Atiku’s comments have renewed questions about the implementation of the Federal Government’s cash transfer programme. He is demanding clearer figures on the number of beneficiaries and details of the payments made under the scheme.
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