FG to Support 2.2m Poor Households With ₦419bn Cash Transfers

The federal government says it will reach 2.2 million poor households with cash support before the end of August.

Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Tanko Sununu, revealed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

“In the next few days to come, before the end of August, we are going to reach out to 2.2 million households,” he said.

He explained that the National Social Safety-Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) had compiled a social register that identifies the poorest Nigerians. From that list, the cash transfers would begin.

According to him, “For those Nigerians, it is a rapid conditional cash transfer. So far, we have disbursed ₦419 billion to five million Nigerians. We have distributed 71% in the northern part and 21% in the southern part of the country.”

Poverty, Hunger, and the Humanitarian Burden

At a separate event in Abuja, Sununu warned that Nigeria’s humanitarian challenges were deepening. Over three million people remain displaced by insecurity, floods, and other disasters.

He cautioned that millions could slide deeper into hunger as global humanitarian funding shrinks.

“Globally, humanitarian funding is shrinking, and Nigeria is not exempted. Just a few days ago, the World Food Programme suspended some of its activities. This leaves over 300,000 children at risk of malnutrition, while more than 200,000 are already receiving treatment,” Sununu said.

He noted that 65% of poor Nigerians live in the north, with most being smallholder farmers. Many have lost farmlands to flooding and drought.

To help, the government has given interest-free loans of ₦300,000 each to farmers through the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP). Sununu added that over 5.9 million households—about 25 million Nigerians—have already benefited from ₦419 billion in conditional cash transfers.

“These efforts are part of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to ensuring that Nigerians maintain dignity of life despite economic challenges,” he said.

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