The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, has said more than 10 million vulnerable Nigerians have benefited from the Federal Government’s conditional cash transfer programme.
Yilwatda said the beneficiaries received ₦75,000 each under the intervention implemented through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.
The APC chairman made the statement on Saturday while speaking with journalists after the party’s three-day National Executive Council retreat in Maiduguri, Borno State.
According to Yilwatda, many of the beneficiaries are poor and vulnerable Nigerians who do not have access to mobile phones, television or social media.
He argued that their absence from online discussions should not be interpreted as evidence that they did not benefit from government interventions.
“We have given 75,000 naira to over 10 million Nigerians across the country using the conditional cash transfer under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction,” Yilwatda said.
He also listed road construction, employment linked to infrastructure projects and student loans among the programmes he said had been implemented by the Tinubu administration.
Government Previously Reported Over ₦600bn In Cash Transfers
Yilwatda’s statement comes after Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, disclosed in August that the Federal Government had disbursed more than ₦600 billion in cash transfers over three years, reaching slightly more than 10 million households.
The minister made the disclosure while discussing the government’s social-protection programmes and the newly launched $1 billion Renewed Hope Social Protection Programme.
The programme includes the Household Prosperity and Empowerment Social Protection Project (HOPE-SP), which targets about 7.6 million vulnerable households, with eligible households expected to receive a one-off digital shock-response payment of ₦40,000.
However, the reported figures surrounding the cash-transfer programme have also generated public questions. Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar subsequently questioned differences in the government’s reported beneficiary figures and called for greater transparency over the programme.
APC Reviews Structures Ahead of 2027
Speaking on the outcome of the APC retreat, Yilwatda said the party reviewed its structures and activities at the national, state, local government, ward and polling-unit levels ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said the review was aimed at assessing the party’s preparedness and identifying areas requiring further attention.
Yilwatda also disclosed that the party’s National Executive Council passed a vote of confidence in President Bola Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima and other APC candidates who emerged from the party’s primaries for the 2027 elections.
He further said the party would strengthen reconciliation efforts across its state chapters, particularly in areas where internal disagreements remain.
According to him, state chapters that have yet to establish reconciliation committees would be encouraged to do so as part of efforts to strengthen the party’s internal structures.
The APC chairman also said the party leadership would communicate the administration’s programmes and policies to Nigerians during its electioneering activities.
The party, meanwhile, expressed condolences to the government and people of Niger State over the deaths of 37 miners.
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