The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Nentawe Yilwatda, has accused some state governors and politicians of attempting to influence the federal government’s social register for conditional cash transfers.
Yilwatda made this revelation during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily. He stated that certain political figures want the Ministry to compromise its standards by allowing states to generate their own lists of beneficiaries, which he firmly opposed.
“Some people want us to bend and allow the governors or the states to just generate the list and send. It’s a conditional transfer; conditions are attached to qualifying to benefit from the social safety net,” Yilwatda said. “We will not bend to allowing any political affiliation or attachment to this conditional cash transfer. Poverty doesn’t know political party, tribe, and doesn’t understand grammar. A poor person is a poor person.”
The Minister announced the temporary suspension of cash transfers, noting that the program would now require beneficiaries to provide their National Identification Number (NIN) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) for transparency and accountability.
“It is going to be clearly digital,” he explained. “This time around, we are carrying the civil society organizations (CSOs) along so that they can verify all payments. They will conduct follow-ups, ensuring some levels of transparency in what we are doing.”
Yilwatda disclosed that while 19.8 million Nigerians are currently listed on the national social register as potential beneficiaries, only 1.2 million have been validated. The validation process involves verifying individuals’ identities, locations, and socioeconomic conditions.
“We need to validate the entire register so that we can get the actual people who are supposed to benefit. This includes authenticating their locations using GPS and applying social indices such as access to water, health, education, and economic facilities,” he explained.
The federal government is targeting 15 million poor households with N75,000 in cash transfers.
The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs has faced controversies since its establishment during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. In October 2024, President Bola Tinubu appointed Yilwatda to replace Betta Edu, who was suspended in January 2024 and later removed amid allegations of approving N585.2 million to be disbursed into a personal account. Edu denied the allegations, claiming they were attempts to tarnish her reputation.
Edu’s predecessor, Sadiya Farouq, was also embroiled in a scandal involving the alleged laundering of N37.1 billion under Buhari’s administration.
The Ministry’s renewed efforts under Yilwatda aim to rebuild public trust in its operations while ensuring that funds reach those most in need.
