The National Coordinator of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Unit, Mrs. Temitope Sinkaiye, on Monday disclosed that the Federal Government had spent up to N15 billion on 1.8 million vulnerable women across 20 states since the Social Investment Programme (SIP) was flagged off in 2016.
Sinkaye, who gave this hint during an end-of-year review meeting of the programme in Bauchi, said that it had enhanced the livelihood of 326,000 households so far nationwide.
She explained: “From 2016 to 2018, the Federal Government has spent N15 billion on 326,000 households. That translated to N1.8 million across 20 states.
“The Federal government has spent N15 million on the beneficiaries, which includes capacity and entrepreneurship training and the monthly stipend of N5,000, to all beneficiaries”, the coordinator added.
According to her, as part of moves to improve the efficiency of the programme, stakeholders decided at the 2018 review meeting that efforts would be devoted towards prioritising scaling up the number of beneficiaries to one million households in 2019, thereby increasing the number to five million nationwide.
In his remarks at the meeting, Bauchi State Focal Person on the SIP, Aliyu Abdullahi, pointed out the SIP initiative was a proof that the present administration had committed itself to improving the lives of the poor in the society.
He commended the Federal Government for initiating the Social Investment Programme in view of its far-reaching socio-economic impacts on the lives of many households across the country.
