Minister Begins Disbursement Of Federal Govt’s Funds To 5,054 FCT Residents

As part of the economic sustainability plan of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the minister of state for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has commenced the disbursement of funds to 5,054 beneficiaries in the territory.

The minister, during the flag-off ceremony in Abuja, said the figure is made up of 3,650 beneficiaries of the social transfer scheme; and 1,404 beneficiaries of livelihood grant and that the social transfer would run for 12 months of six cycles.

Aliyu further said that beneficiaries under this result area would be receiving stipends of N20, 000.00 bimonthly payments, while beneficiaries under the livelihood grants programme would receive between N50, 000.00 to N135, 000.00, one-off payment, depending on the business category.

“The programmes are anchored under the COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) scheme, and it is designed to expand access to livelihood support, food security services, and grants to poor and vulnerable households and firms.

“It also seeks to promote recovery of Medium Scales Enterprises (MSEs) in the country and revive the economy, especially in the rural areas, where over 70 percent of our population dwells,” she said.

The minister also noted that beyond the NG-CARES initiatives, the FCT Administration in the year implemented a set of other support programmes for residents of the territory including the FADAMA CARES, CSDP CARES and the AEA CARES at different times and locations.

She said that the disbursement is a promise kept and a mission accomplished by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), stressing that at the inception of Buhari’s administration, the party released a blueprint for lifting 100 million people from poverty through comprehensive policies of Conditional Cash Transfer, Home Grown School Feeding and the N-Power schemes, Government Economic and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Trader Moni, Market Moni and a host of others.

Aliyu affirmed that these programmes have positively impacted the lives of ordinary citizens and have surprised the nay-sayers, as testimonies of the huge successes achieved in the implementation of these programmes abound.