More than 11,800 households have benefited from the Federal Government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) scheme in Bayelsa.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Household Uplifting Programme-Conditional Cash Transfer (HUP-CCT) is managed by Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, led by the Minister, Hajia Sadiya Farouq.
NAN also recalls that the payment had resumed on Sept. 7 at Igeibiri in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state, with full payment of a backlog of six months.
Mr Emmanuel Benson, Focal Person, National Social Investment Programme (N-SIP) in Bayelsa, told newsmen on Friday said that the exercise was aimed at reducing poverty in the state and the country at large.
He said that more than 11,800 poor and vulnerable households had so far benefited from the scheme, initiated by the federal government.
“We have covered almost eight local government areas in Bayelsa, and people are calling for more inclusion and extension of the conditional cash transfer.
“Today, I can say that majority of the people in Bayelsa have been fully paid,” he said.
Benson commended President Muhammadu Buhari, the minister and Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa for supporting the programme.
He said the aim was to address poverty in the state, adding that most beneficiaries had already established small businesses with the gesture.
Benson, also the Coordinator of N-Power and School Feeding Programme in the state, expressed hope that more people would benefit before November end.
He advised the beneficiaries to utilise the funds judiciously, noting that others, especially traders, had given encouraging feedbacks to the federal government.
NAN reports that Nembe, Brass, Ogbia, Southern Ijaw, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Yenagoa, Ekeremor and Sagbama Local Government Areas benefited from the pilot scheme.
The beneficiaries expressed gratitude to the federal government for the scheme, urging it not to relent. (NAN)
