The Federal Government has confirmed that 2.3 million Nigerian households have been approved to receive payments under its conditional cash transfer programme.
This update was given by the Director General of the National Identity Management Commission, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, during a press briefing in Abuja.
According to her, the government is currently revalidating names on the National Social Register to ensure that only eligible people benefit from the financial support.
“The Federal Government is currently conducting a revalidation exercise on the National Social Register under the National Social Safety Net, so that they are able to carry out the payment,” Coker-Odusote said.
She added, “As of Tuesday, we have been able to revalidate 2.3 million persons and will soon be able to start making the necessary payments. Our job is to ensure the number of people validated, and we are doing that in conjunction with other agencies to make sure that the money goes to the right people.”
The cash transfer programme was introduced in 2023 after the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of the exchange rate. It is meant to help poor and vulnerable families cope with the rising cost of living.
However, the World Bank, which is supporting the project with an \$800 million loan, recently raised concerns over the slow pace of the programme.
In its latest Nigeria Development Update report, the bank said only 5.6 million out of the targeted 15 million households had received any payment as of April 2025.
“Only 5.6 million households—around 37 per cent—have received at least one tranche of direct transfers,” the World Bank said. It noted that expansion of the programme depends on biometric confirmation of household members.
To address this, Coker-Odusote explained that strict identity checks were necessary.
“We don’t want to pay people who no longer exist in this world. So, the right thing must be done,” she said.
“This is the reason for identity—ensuring there is a verifiable source of truth and identity credentials that can be used to confirm who someone is in real time.”
Also speaking on the issue, President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Economic Affairs, Tope Fasua, told Arise TV that the slow progress was because of the biometric validation process.
“The reason why only 37 per cent of households have been reached is because of the need to have biometric confirmation,” Fasua said.
He explained that although the finance ministry has the records of poor households, confirming their identities takes time.
“But it is better to be careful than sorry,” he added. “Going forward, the process will be tidied up even better.”
Fasua asked Nigerians to be patient, saying the goal is to ensure the funds go to the right people without any fraud.
