THE Federal Government said, yesterday, that people with over N5,000 in their bank accounts will not benefit from the palliatives to cushion the effect of  lockdown imposed as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

Government also said it would use the mobile networks to identify people that top up the credit units for their phones with  N100 or less, adding that state governments would now be involved in the distribution of food items.

These came on a day governors of the 36 states of the federation appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to extend the conditional cash transfer to daily paid workers in the informal sector of the economy.

The governors, acting under the aegis of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, said this remained the only way to avert the episode in Ecuador where people in the informal sector poured onto the streets to defy lockdown, citing hunger, a situation which increased the rate of infection of coronavirus and consequent death of hundreds in the streets.

They also urged the federal government to suspend repayment of states debt to the FG, such as PAYE, to enable them cater for the poor during the period of lockdown.

Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting behind closed doors with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq, said the Ministry would now focus on the urban poor as it carries out President Buhari’s directive on the distribution of palliatives to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on Nigerians.

She said:  “You are aware that the President in his broadcast of Monday 13th April, directed that we expand the beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer by one million and in this regard, we are going to focus more now on the urban poor.

“These are people who depend on the informal sector to earn their livelihood; they are daily wage earners and these are the people that we are really going to focus more on as well as people living with disabilities.”

Giving details on how to identify the beneficiaries of the stimulus, she said the Ministry had three options to be adopted in selecting the beneficiaries of the scheme.

How to select beneficiaries

“Well, we have three options; one, we are going to use the national social register that we already have. Two, we are also going to focus on the urban poor as I mentioned, by using their verified BVN accounts to get them, that is, 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 may be N100 or less. Those are also people that we consider to be poor and vulnerable.

‘’So, these are the three options that we are exploring and I am sure that by the time we get this data, we will be able to give this intervention,” the minister added.

She, however, said only 25 per cent of the population would benefit for now, adding that the scope might be expanded later.

She said:  “Let me also say that we have a standard. 25 per cent of the total population is what we will take out. It cannot go round everywhere but we are starting from somewhere.

“25 per cent of let’s say the location of Lagos State for example is what is going to benefit from this intervention that we are doing. Going forward, we might expand it but this is what is obtainable for now.”

The Minister said her ministry intended to handover the distribution of food relief items to state governments, so as to address the challenges associated with distribution faced in the past.

She said:  “On the issue of palliatives in terms of food relief, we have an emergency response plan in place. In the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, we have different functional groups.

“One of such groups, is that which deals with mass care, logistics and security, to be led by the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, under the Ministry and they have a structure, from national, states, down to local governments, where the various state emergency agencies and other security agencies are involved in this distribution.

“So far, we have already done the distribution together with the state authorities in the two states affected by the lockdown, alongside the FCT but going forward, when we are going to give these food items, we are going to hand them over to states because issues have come up, as at yesterday (Monday,).

“Our people were mobbed, some of them were attacked in the course of carrying out this assignment, so the general conclusion is that we give this food relief directly to the state governments for distribution  to the beneficiaries.”

Also speaking on the N21 billion support given to Nigeria by the European Union to fight COVID-19, the Minister said the donation came in the form of medical equipment and provision of structures that would help Nigeria fight the deadly disease.

“This donation is coming in kind, basically by way of medical equipment and also some structure to be put in place as a response to this COVID-19 pandemic.

“In that intervention, there are also humanitarian issues that would be addressed. As you are aware, this is a health emergency but at the same time, it is also a humanitarian emergency, so the Ministry is going to come in here because we are to coordinate all humanitarian interventions coming into the country by way of making sure that such interventions get to the poor and vulnerable in our society,” she said.

Govs make case for daily paid workers

Meanwhile, governors of the 36 states, acting under the aegis of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, have appealed to President Buhari to extend the conditional cash transfer to daily paid workers in the informal sector of the economy.

The President had in his nationwide broadcast to entend the lockkdown in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja, directed that the number of beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer be raised from 2.6 million to 3.6 million people.

But the governors contended that more than the one million beneficiaries of the cash existed in the informal sector, and made a case for the programme to accommodate all of them.

The governors equally told President Buhari that his address to the nation succinctly captured the mood of the nation and showed that his administration was in touch with the plight of the man on the street.

These were highlights of the engagement by Chairman of the NGF and Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, with the President in the NGF’s maiden teleconference meeting yesterday.

NGF Head of Media and Public Affairs Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, who disclosed these in a statement, said: “The teleconference meeting which was at the instance of the NGF was warmly embraced by President Buhari.

“Dr Fayemi told the President that last night’s  address to the nation succinctly captured the mood of the nation and showed that his administration is in touch with the plight of the man on the street.

“Dr Fayemi told the President that the two weeks extension of the lockdown in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun states even though tough, was “the right way to go.

“The NGF Chairman also told the president that the targeted testing strategy adopted by the country has done a lot, however the Ekiti State Governor stated that there was need for more testing.

“The NGF Chairman added that the Governors were desirous of having some more testing facilities so as to deepen the gains already made by the NCDC.

“Governor Fayemi briefed Mr. President on the distribution of palliatives and urged him  to instruct the relevant authorities to use the machineries of the state governments so that the palliatives would penetrate all nooks and crannies of the country.

“Palliatives” the NGF Chairman explained, “would be even more meaningful if they were distributed through the state governors..

“Dr Fayemi told President Buhari that since the outbreak of the pandemic, governors have been meeting on a regular basis and met four (4) times over an initial period  of 12 days.

“Fayemi said that governors would be having their next and 5th teleconference meeting tomorrow to review the strategies so far put in place in their various states and apply peer learning mechanism to share experiences and collectively adopt areas of successes for the good of their citizens.

“The SGF, Mr Boss Mustapha, the PTF Coordinator, Dr Sani Aliyu would be joining the governors in tomorrow’s meeting, just as the CBN Governor, Aliko Dangote and Herbert Wigwe will all be addressing the governors at the meeting.

“In previous meetings top government functionaries including the Finance Minister, Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management & Social Development Minister, and the Minister for     Communications & Digital Economy have all addressed governors at different times.

“The meeting between the NGF Chairman and the President stretched into the economy where the NGF Chairman told the President that states are going through rough times and would like to appeal to the President to take certain decisive decisions to ameliorate the sufferings of the Nigerian people.

“Fayemi thanked the President for the approval of the release of $150 million to augment projected FAAC shortfall in   June but added that more needs to be done to keep the states properly afloat.

The NGF Chairman alluded to the revenues from the Liquified Natural Gas, LNG, which he said could help in assuaging some issues related to revenue shortfalls and reiterated a point from the 4th NGF teleconference meeting of the governors where they called for the suspension of all deductions by the federal government so that states can address the COVID-19 challenge from a position of economic strength.

“Dr Fayemi also hinted the President that there was the need to streamline all multi-lateral and bilateral interventions and funding so that states are also integrated and considered because of the difficulties that they are going through.

“He commended the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 which he said is doing a great job because the challenges that the coronavirus has thrown at them, adding that because it puts governors at the receiving end of the hardships, all governors would be happier if their requests were met.

“Governor Fayemi commended Mr. President for the manner in which he has always rescued the states. He recalled presidential approvals for bailouts, budget support facility, London Paris Club refund, etc.

“He assured Mr. President that if established, states’ debt to the FGN,  like the outstanding PAYE, are defrayed, the poor and vulnerable in the country and the citizens would be better taken care of.

“I know your penchant for caring for the poor and the downtrodden in the country, Mr President, and I am telling you that allocations from FAAC have dropped significantly, so if you turn your magnanimity towards governors and their states into looking at other debts that continue to linger in the system and prioritise their payments, poor people will be happier.

“The NGF chairman told the President that all the 36 state governments were currently reviewing their budgets downwards to conform with the prevailing realities.

“Governor Fayemi stated that the Forum members align themselves with the efforts of the Federal Government and called for synergy in governance.

‘’He urged the President to also encourage the evolution of a national strategic plan that would encompass the sub-national level so that the country will find a fast and easy way out of the woods.

“Dr Fayemi ended his conversation with the President on the plight of informal sector workers who are daily paid in the country whom he said have not been captured in the national register and were, therefore, exempted from the conditional cash transfer, saying their plight needs to be quickly addressed before our situation crumbles into the “Ecuadorian Alternative” where the poor and vulnerable people of Ecuador flocked into the streets in violation of the stay at home order in their country.

“Responding, President Muhammadu Buhari commended Dr Fayemi for providing decent leadership at the Forum and keeping all governors on course which has helped the federal government to find easy access to the sub-national level.

“The President then asked the NGF Chairman to formalise all the requests of the governors and forward them to him and promised that they would be promptly addressed.”

Also reacting to the lockdown, Senate Deputy Minority leader, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Taraba South said:  “The lockdown is for our good.”

On his part, Senate Services Committee, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, All Progressives Congress, APC, Niger East,   said:  “Very much in order. Community spread has sparked off and becoming more now.

‘’Government should suspend any non-priority project and divert the resources to palliatives to all states and make  all elected representatives at all levels involved.’