The Presidency has clarified that beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s Trade Moni N10,000 collateral free loan did not need to present their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), before they could qualify for the loan.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, while giving update on the scheme, said that there was no documentation of any kind required before one is qualified for the loan.
Specifically, the President’s aide on publicity confirmed that “petty traders are not required to show PVC, or any document for that matter, they are only expected to show they are petty traders and this is why the enumeration is done in the markets and wherever the traders ply their trades.”
He assured that the present administration would intensify its efforts to empower more Nigerians with the collateral-free loans to petty traders nationwide.
Akande explained that that the credit scheme was part of the Social Investment Programme of the administration which commenced in 2016.
Akande, while debunking insinuations that the beneficiaries of the loan were placed on certain condition queried: “Must we then suspend the empowerment of the traders just because some people will insinuate motivations?
“The petty traders whose trades and lives are being positively impacted as they receive the N10,000 are telling a different story from those making political insinuations. And it is their stories that inspire us.
“Nigerians already know that the Buhari administration is one that is projecting the interests of the common man, Nigerians who are at the lower rungs, and this is not a new perception at all”, he added.
Akande hinted that the interest-free Trader Moni, which has been launched in eight states and the FCT so far, would be launched in more states including Oyo, Cross River, and Kaduna states, this week.
He listed the states where the interest-free loans had been introduced as Lagos, Kano, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Katsina, Osun, Kogi and the FCT.
