Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management has revealed that poor and vulnerable Nigerians will be identified through their Bank Verification Number (BVN) and mobile telephone networks.
This is coming after heavy criticisms following the manner the first set of COVID-19 Palliatives were distributed. Senator Ali Ndume last week accused Minister Sadiya of fraud, alleging most of the names generated to be recipients of the first set of Palliatives were fake.
ALSO READ: COVID-19 Palliatives: Names of Beneficiaries are fake – Sen Ndume accuses Minister Sadiya of Fraud
Many Nigerians have also called for transparency and accountability in the distribution of the palliatives provided to cushion the downsides of the Lockdown.
The Herald in a previous article reported that the Humanitarian Minister stated that Nigerians who recharge their mobile phones with N100 airtime and those with an account balance of N5,000 or less are those qualified to receive the palliatives.
The Humanitarian Minister was quoted saying “People that have an account balance of N5, 000 and below.
“We are also using the mobile networks, to know people that top up the credit units for their phones with maybe N100 or less. These are people that we consider to be poor and vulnerable.
Minister Sadiya disclosed the federal government would collaborate with banks and Telecommunications Companies(TelCos) to obtain a list of Nigerians who qualify for the relief funds.
Speaking at the Daily Press Briefing on Tuesday, April 21, the Minister reiterated the government’s plan to work with TelCos and banks to identify the genuinely poor and vulnerable citizens.
“We are using other models including BVN to identify bank accounts. We are also using mobile phone networks to identify poor and vulnerable people in the society. This is going to be faster, transparent and give room for more accountability” said Minister Sadiya
ALSO READ: FG: No Palliatives for Nigerians who recharge phones with more than N100 airtime