The Federal Government has disbursed N330 billion directly to more than 8.1 million households under its expansive social protection programme to alleviate living conditions of vulnerable Nigerians.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, at a news conference yesterday in Abuja, presented a progress report on the social safety programme designed to cushion the impact of macroeconomic challenges on poor Nigerians.
He said the programme, designed to make payments of N75, 000 to each household in three tranches of N25, 000, had reached 8.11 million households, 54 per cent of the programme’s target of 15 million households.
He said the programme would now be institutionalised and captured in the annual budget in order to ensure continuity, transparency, and accountability in government’s support to the most vulnerable Nigerians.
He added that in line with government’s commitment to transparency and beneficial effect, cash is not being handed over to beneficiaries but rather transfers are being made to the benefiting households using their Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN).
He said: “Our target is to reach 15 million households, with each household receiving N25, 000 in three tranches. To date, 8.11 million households, representing 54 per cent of the target, have received their first tranche, 2.75 million households have received their second tranche, while 2.43 million households have completed all three tranches”.
A breakdown of the disbursement data showed that the North received 72 per cent of total disbursements, while the South got 28 per cent. In terms of gender, 69 per cent of beneficiaries were female, compared to 31 per cent male recipients.
The age distribution of beneficiaries indicated that eight per cent were under 20 years old, 30 per cent fell within the 21 to 35 age bracket, 22 per cent were between 36 to 50 years old, 36 per cent were aged 51 to 65 years while four per cent were above 65 years.
Monthly cumulative data showed steady growth in coverage: from 1.78 million households in November 2023, to 2.59 million in December 2023, 2.98 million in January 2024, 3.35 million in June 2024, 4.26 million in July 2024, and 8.11 million households by August 2025.
Notably, there was a marked improvement the pace of recent disbursements with 2.2 new households paid between June and August 2025.
Edun attributed the previous delay in disbursements to timelag for verification as transparency remains central to the process.
He said: “The delay in disbursement pace has been largely due to the lag from NIN enrolment. With the systems built by National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the outlook for completing payments is strong. We are prioritising identity and payments exception clearance to reach the remaining 6.9 million households over the coming months”.
He reiterated that the aim of government was to ensure that 45 per cent of the targeted 15 million households are female-led.
“Our focus remains steady: from 54 per cent coverage today to full coverage- verified, transparent, and people-first. We are accelerating exception resolution, scaling last-mile delivery, and providing regular public updates on both coverage and impact. Put simply, we are converting reforms into results — verified support, delivered at scale — and we remain committed to reaching every eligible household across Nigeria,” Edun said.
