By Joy Yesufu
The Federal Government has commenced the disbursement of N50,000 monthly cash assistance to vulnerable Nigerians under its National Emergency Relief and Stabilisation Intervention (NERSI).
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro, announced the commencement of the intervention in a statement dated October 30, describing it as a presidential initiative aimed at providing immediate financial relief to vulnerable households.
Doro said the programme was designed to cushion the effects of rising food prices and the increasing cost of essential goods on Nigerian households.
Under the intervention, eligible beneficiaries will receive N50,000 monthly to help meet their basic needs and ease the financial burden associated with the rising cost of living.
“Under this intervention, eligible beneficiaries will receive ₦50,000 monthly, providing direct assistance to help meet essential needs and ease the burden of living costs,” the minister said.
He explained that the initiative would be reviewed periodically in response to prevailing economic conditions and changes in the cost of living, with beneficiaries to be notified ahead of any adjustments.
According to him, the ministry is working with licensed digital financial service providers to ensure secure, transparent and seamless delivery of the funds.
Doro said beneficiaries would receive text messages from approved service providers requesting their consent before payments are processed into their bank accounts or mobile wallets.
“Beneficiaries will receive an SMS from one of these providers asking for their consent. This message is genuine. Once consent is given, payment is made directly to the beneficiary’s account/mobile wallet,” he said.
The approved payment providers and their respective USSD codes are ALAT by Wema (94523#), MoMo PSB (6710#), NairaGram (72600#), OPay (95520#) and Moniepoint (557327#).
Meanwhile, the Youth Economic Intervention and De-radicalisation Programme (YEIDEP), in a Facebook post on Tuesday, said
disbursements under NERSI were ongoing, with beneficiaries receiving notifications through their registered telephone numbers.
The programme advised individuals who had yet to receive text messages but whose eligibility status showed “NOT SELECTED” to remain patient and await subsequent batches.
“Those who have not received an SMS but checked their status and saw ‘NOT SELECTED’ should remain patient and wait for the next batch,” the post stated.
However, the programme did not guarantee that all applicants or individuals whose status showed “NOT SELECTED” would be included in subsequent batches.
The humanitarian affairs minister stressed that beneficiaries were not required to submit fresh applications, pay any fees or register through agents to access the intervention.
He warned Nigerians to be wary of fraudsters seeking to exploit the programme, advising them against disclosing their personal identification numbers, Bank Verification Numbers or other sensitive banking details to unauthorised persons.
Doro urged anyone uncertain about the authenticity of a message or approached by individuals demanding payment to contact the official NERSI helpline on 0700-022-2222 for clarification.
