EXCLUSIVE: Ekiti State To Spend N12.7Billion On ‘Cash Transfers’ To Residents In Three Years, Details Of Beneficiaries Unclear

A review of the Ekiti State Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) by SaharaReporters has revealed that the state government intends to spend N12.7 billion on cash transfer programmes between 2025 and 2027.

The framework shows that N4.05 billion has been allocated for 2025, N4.2 billion for 2026, and N4.5 billion for the 2027 fiscal year.

The funds were earmarked under the Ekiti CARES (Cash Transfer Delivery Unit). It is, however, unclear how many persons are being targeted by the state government for the scheme.

Justifying its cash transfer initiative, the Ekiti State Government wrote on its website: "The Federal Government in its effort to lift 100million people out of poverty established the National Social Investment Programme Agency under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to coordinate the activities of the Four (4) Social Investment Programmes in Nigeria.

"To replicate this, Ekiti State Government established Social Investment Coordinating Agency for effective implementation of these programmes at the state level.”

A SaharaReporters review of the state's open contracting portal shows that seven contracts worth N1.074 billion were awarded for cash transfers between 2021 and 2022.

Previously, at the national level, SaharaReporters reported that the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Tanko Sununu, said 2.19 million persons would be reached for cash transfers by the end of August.

He made this known while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on August 18.

"In August, we are going to reach out to 2,190,000 people. The process is that the National Social Safety-Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) will now harvest vulnerable Nigerians based on their lowest cadre in the national social register," he said.

Explaining further, the minister stated that the initiative was specifically targeted at vulnerable citizens who would receive direct cash payments.

Over time, the Nigerian government's conditional cash transfer scheme has been marred by controversy due to poor accountability and corruption.

In December 2022, SaharaReporters reported that some top government officials introduced over 70,000 ghost workers into the N-Power Programme and fraudulently diverted billions of naira into their pockets.

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