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Minister uncovers plot by some Nigerian politicians to hijack conditional cash transfer
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Nentawe Yilwatda, says some politicians are trying to influence poor Nigerians who make the social register to enjoy the government’s conditional cash transfer.
The minister, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Monday, said some persons want his ministry to bend for political reasons but “unfortunately it’s a partnership between us and the international community – the World Bank is involved, CSOs (civil society organisations) are involved and it’s not just a ministry activity”.
He said, “Some people want us to bend and allow the governors or the states to just generate the list and send. It’s a conditional transfer; conditions are attached to qualifying to benefit from the social safety net.
“So, we will not bend to allowing any political affiliation or attachment to this conditional cash transfer. Poverty doesn’t know political party, poverty doesn’t know tribe, poverty doesn’t even understand the grammar we are blowing. A poor person is a poor person.”
The minister said he suspended cash transfers and that National Identification Number (NIN) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) are now compulsory for all digital transfers for audit and transparency purposes.
“It is going to be clearly digital. This time around, we are carrying the CSOs along so that all payments, we will ask them to verify, they can do follow-ups and we can have some levels of transparency in what we are doing,” he said.
The minister said though 19.8 million poor Nigerians are captured on the nation’s social register to qualify for social safety funds, the government has validated only the identities of 1.2 people.
Yilwatda said, “Currently, we have a social register; we have 19.8 people on the social register but when you have a list, you need to validate that list.
“For now, the people that have been validated are only about 1.2 million people. We need to validate the entire register so that we can get the actual people who are supposed to benefit from it, authenticate their locations; their houses, where they are, and capture on GPS location — the location of their homes.
“So that we are sure they exist and be sure that these people are as poor as they claim because there are social indices for judging poverty like access to water, access to health, access to education, and access to economic facilities. So that you can now pick the poorest of the poor in the society.”
He said the government targets 15 million poor households with N75,000.
The humanitarian ministry has courted controversies since its establishment by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
In October 2024, President Bola Tinubu appointed Yilwatda to replace Betta Edu who was suspended in January 2024 before her removal.
Controversy had enveloped Edu’s alleged involvement in the approval of N585,198,500.00 to be disbursed into a personal account but she denied the allegation and said there were plans to tarnish her image, and that she wouldn’t embezzle government funds.
Incidentally, Edu’s predecessor, Sadiya Farouq, was also probed over an alleged laundering of N37.1 billion under the administration of ex-President Buhari.
Channels
The Northern Youths Consultative Forum for Justice (NYCJ) has urged Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in Zamfara State, citing a complete breakdown of governance, law, and order.
In a statement issued on Monday in Kano, NYCJ President Dr Sanusi Rano described the situation in Zamfara as “organised abandonment of duty” by elected officials.
“What we are witnessing in Zamfara is not governance. It is betrayal of the people,” Rano said, pointing to the absence of a functional state House of Assembly and allegations linking officials to criminal activities.
The group highlighted the suspension of 10 lawmakers who spoke out against the deteriorating security situation, arguing that their removal has left Zamfara without a legally recognised legislative body.
“This is a dictatorship of silence,” said Rano, adding that the lack of checks and balances has deepened the state’s crisis.
“The same hands that should protect Zamfara are profiting from its destruction,” Rano stated.
Calling for decisive action, the group demanded the appointment of a non-partisan administrator to rebuild the state’s institutions.
“If this is not done now, Zamfara risks becoming a permanent state of anarchy, which threatens our democracy,” Rano warned.
Justice Nwosu-Iheme of a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, on Monday, sentenced the husband of late gospel singer, Osinachi, Peter Nwachukwu, to death by hanging.
Nwachukwu was found guilty of culpable homicide resulting in the death of the deceased ( his wife) on April 8, 2022.
The judge held that the prosecution had proven the burden of proof placed on it by the law and subsequently found the defendant guilty.
Nwachukwu was arraigned on June 3, 2022 by the Office of Attorney-General of the Federation (OAGF), on behalf of the Federal Government, on a 23-count charge .
The charge was on culpable homicide punishable with death, criminal intimidation, cruelty to children, criminal intimidation of children, spousal battery, among others.
In the course of trial, the prosecution called 17 witnesses, including two children of the late Osinachi, who testified as fourth prosecution and fifth prosecution witnesses, PW4 and PW5 respectively.
The prosecution also tendered 25 documents as exhibits before the court.
The defendant testified for the defence and further called four other witnesses and tendered four exhibits in his defence.
Shortly before sentencing, the defendant, counsel , Reginald Nwali, in his allocutus pleaded with the court to be lenient in its judgment.
Similarly, the prosecution counsel, Mrs Aderonke Imala, urged the court to give force to the law as stipulated.
Justice Nwosu-Iheme subsequently sentenced Nwachukwu to death by hanging on Count 1, while he was sentenced to two years imprisonment each on Counts 2, 3, 8,9, 12, 13, and 18.
The court sentenced the defendant to six months imprisonment on Count 10, three years imprisonment in Count 11, while he was fined the sum of N500,000 and N200,000 respectively on Counts 6 and 7 respectively. (NAN)
A group of lawyers under the banner of the Guardian of Democracy and Rule of Law staged a massive protest at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja on Monday, demanding a judicial inquiry into the tenure of Mele Kolo Kyari, the former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL).
The protesters, led by Barrister Benjamin Theophilus, submitted a petition alleging widespread corruption, tax evasion, abuse of office, and misappropriation of public funds during Kyari’s leadership.
The petition highlighted several contentious issues, including inflated costs of refinery rehabilitation contracts, fraudulent crude oil allocations, mismanagement of the AKK Gas Pipeline Project, fuel subsidy fraud, and questionable crude-backed loans.
According to the petition, NNPCL under Kyari spent over $4 billion on rehabilitating the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, far exceeding an initial private-sector proposal of $1 billion for all three facilities.
“Kyari is alleged to have collaborated with consultants and contractors to conceal the actual cost of contracts and evade taxes,” the petition stated, noting that the refineries remain inefficient despite the expenditure.
The lawyers also accused Kyari of overseeing the diversion of crude oil allocations under the pretext of “pipeline security” at a rate of 80,000 barrels per day, with no transparent accountability mechanisms.
The $5 billion AKK Gas Pipeline Project was similarly flagged for irregularities in contract awards and execution, with little progress despite significant funding.
Further allegations include fuel subsidy fraud, with NNPCL reportedly increasing petroleum imports in 2020 during a global decline in fuel consumption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The petition also criticised crude-backed loans totalling $21.565 billion since 2019, which it claimed disadvantaged Nigeria by ceding trading profits to international traders.
The protesters called for a judicial commission to investigate Kyari’s tenure, probe payments to refinery contractors, and examine past audit failures.
They also urged the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to investigate suspected tax evasion and fraudulent declarations, while advocating for the recovery of any misappropriated public funds.
The Federal Ministry of Finance has yet to respond to the petition, and NNPCL officials were unavailable for comment at the time of reporting.