During a meeting presided over by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, the National Economic Council (NEC) has decided to discard the national social register that was compiled under the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari, citing a lack of credibility. Instead, the council proposed the implementation of a cash transfer program for states based on their own social registers and introduced a cash reward policy for public servants over a period of six months.
The council’s decision emerged from a meeting held at the state house that lasted for over five hours. According to Chukwuma Soludo, the governor of Anambra, NEC agreed that states should develop their own registers using both formal and informal means. This approach will ensure that all beneficiaries can be accurately identified at the subnational level.
Soludo also mentioned that the council deliberated on ways to mitigate the impact of the recent removal of the petrol subsidy. To alleviate the hardships faced by public servants, the council agreed to prioritize the payment of outstanding liabilities, including pensions and gratuities.
Additionally, the government plans to support business growth by funding micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with single-digit interest rates.
In 2016, the federal government established the national social investments program (NSIP) to address poverty and hunger in the country. For the program’s take-off, the government allocated N25 billion. A national social register was created to include the names of vulnerable individuals and households across the nation for the implementation of the program. However, the current NEC has decided to move away from this centralized approach in favor of individual state registers to improve credibility and effectiveness.
