Abia Government says it is poised to collaborate with the Federal Government to effectively implement the Conditional Cash Transfer for the poor and vulnerable persons in the state.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs Ngozi Felix, said this at the formal opening of a one-day training of Local Government Cash Transfer Facilitators on the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer Orientation and Beneficiary Enrolment Process in Abia on Friday.
Felix also said that the state would support the Federal Government’s laudable initiative to achieve the collective goal of poverty reduction in the state and country in general.
She said, “Under the administration of Dr Alex Otti, poverty reduction is a top priority.”
She commended President Bola Tinubu “for providing the opportunity for Abia people to benefit from the conditional cash transfer programme.
“Today’s event is another opportunity to contribute toward an inclusive economy for all,” the commissioner, accompanied by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Ogechi Oguama, said.
She advised the trainees, who were the local government cash transfer facilitators, to participate actively in the training.
In a speech, the representative of the National Enrolment Unit, Abuja, Mr Musa Mohammed, said he was in Abia to ensure that the enrolment commenced seamlessly and geared toward realising the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope agenda.
Mohammed said that the implementation would be foul-proof and that the process had been digitised for payments to be made through the beneficiaries’ bank accounts.
“All the beneficiaries must have bank accounts and the process is technology-driven to eliminate any malpractice or manipulation,” he said.
The Abia Programme Manager, Mr Okeziem Nwoko, said that 90,000 of the one million and fifty thousand prospective beneficiaries captured in the state Social Register would be enrolled in the 17 Local Government Areas.
Nwoko said that 22,850 Abia poor and vulnerable persons had already benefited from the Federal Government’s cash transfer programme in the past three to four years.
He said that Ohafia and Umuahia North had the highest number of beneficiaries, ranging from 13,000 to 14,000.
He expressed the hope that the number of beneficiaries in the state would increase over time with more data from the national enrolment unit.
According to him, this is the first time the programme is being implemented in the entire 17 LGAs.
“A journey of 1000 kilometres begins with one step,” Nwoko said, adding that with time the programme would cover the entire poor and vulnerable persons in the state.
He said that 265 facilitators were trained for the enrolment and that Ohafia and Umuahia North had the highest number.
He allayed the fear of possible fraud or sharp practices in the implementation process, saying, “We are not dealing with cash.
“All payments must be made via the bank accounts of all the beneficiaries, who must, as a condition, have a Bank Verification Number and National Identification Number,” he said.
Two facilitators, Cherechi Paul and Samuel Ubaka from Isiala Ngwa South and Ohafia LGAs, respectively, said that the training exposed them to the very essence of their assignment, being “empathy and integrity”. (NAN)
