By Ismail Abdulaziz

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu has described the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) as one of the key instruments of fighting poverty globally.

She stated this at the launch of the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash transfer (CCT) on Tuesday in Abuja.

Edu said that the CCT was part of efforts by the Tinubu-led administration to alleviate the immediate effect of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), known as petrol.

She said that the new initiative would empower the poor and most vulnerable members of the society, adding that the sum was a source of uplifting majority of beneficiaries.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CCT launch was heralded by the symbolic handing over of cheques to a number of households at the venue of the event.

The CCT programme was announced by Tinubu during the Independence Day speech, where he said that 15 million households would each be given N25,000 for three consecutive months to alleviate the poverty level.

NAN reports that CCT entails transfers given to beneficiaries based on specific actions such as sending children to school or making regular health visits.

The minister said that N25,000 would be given to each of the beneficiaries  to improve their spending power and economic fortunes in the society.

She also said that the N30,000 Iyaloja loan scheme would soon be started for small-scale traders in the country as part of economic revitalisation and empowerment.

NAN also reports that five beneficiaries; Larai Suleiman, Shuaiabu Hassana, Sariki Gamu, Okor Jonah and Hameed Isiaka, were each given their first monthly instalment payment.

Mr Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, vowed that the CCT programme would be transparent in accordance with extant global practices.

He said that the programme had an in-built mechanism to reveal all the beneficiaries upon an enquiry.

Edun said that programme was one of the various measures taken by President Bola Tinubu to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal.

The World Bank Country Representative, Mr Shubham Chaudhuri, said that the institution was ready to support Nigeria for taking the bold economic measure for diverting funds from the shackles of fuel subsidy.

He said that the bank was interested in helping its 189 member states to eliminate poverty among their different peoples.

Chaudhuri said that the CCT programme was part of the palliatives pledged by the president that would further assuage the immediate effects of the subsidy removal.

He urged the relevant authorities to ensure that the fund reached the most vulnerable members of the society in order to achieve its objectives.

Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani