The Federal Government has disbursed the sum of ₦ 58 billion naira in the past two months to the less privileged, under the Conditional Cash Transfer programme, across the country.

Hajia Halima Shehu, National Programme Coordinator, Household Uplifting Programme – Conditional Cash Transfer (HUP -CCT) disclosed this at the launch of a two-day stepdown training on HUP-CCT orientation and sensitisation of beneficiaries enrolment programme, held on Thursday, in Yola.

According to Shehu, the programme aimed at supporting development objectives with the priority of increasing and improving households’ consumption.

She said that among the core objectives of the programme was to increase the utilisation of health and nutrition services, encourage sustainable means of livelihood, as well as improve school enrolment and attendance, among other things.

”As we are all aware that poverty and hunger are high and prevalent among rural dwellers, especially, female headed households with poor sources of income in Nigeria.

”In furtherance to that, the Federal Government established the Household Uplifting Programme – Conditional Cash Transfer ( HUP – CCT), with a slogan ‘ Beta don come’ to help alleviate the poverty of the poor.

”In line with the programme, in the last two months, across the country, the Federal Government has disbursed the sum of ₦58 billion naira to the less privileged”. Shehu said.

She noted that Adamawa government signed a Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU) with the Federal Government to participate in the Programme in 2016.

However, the Cash Transfer unit programme became operational in 2017 in the state, with only 13,269 households, which today had increased to 41,134 benefiting households involving a total of 149,282 individuals that had been enrolled on the programme in the state.

Shehu cited the stepdown training as aimed at enrolling additional 23,134 households, to bring the total of beneficiaries to 64,268 households in the state and who would be receiving ₦10,000 naira monthly.

The coordinator urged the state government to provide a budget line for the programme as all the staff of the programme were from the state Ministry of Women Affairs.

”There’s need for the state government to provide a budget line for the programme to support implementation in the areas of monitoring and supervision of payment, supervision of income generating activities of beneficiaries and maintenance of office and equipment”, she said.

Declaring the training open, Prof. Maxwell Gidado, the Chief of Staff, Adamawa government house, thanked the federal government for the programme, citing it as the first of its kind in which one did not need any political affiliation or a godfather to get registered.

”We thank the Federal Government for this wonderful programme that touches the lives of thousands of vulnerable persons in the state.

 “The state government is also running a similar programme where thousands of needy people are been assisted with ₦10,000 Naira monthly to reduce their hardship and poverty in the state”. Gidado said.