The Federal Government has disclosed that people with over ₦5, 000 in their bank account will not be benefiting from the palliatives to minimise the effect of the COVID-19-induced lockdown.

According to the government, it will be using the mobile networks to know people that top up the credit units for their phones with perhaps ₦100 or less.

Besides, the state governments will now be involved in the distribution of food items.

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after meeting behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

She said, “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.

While speaking of how to identify the beneficiaries of the stimulus, she said that the Ministry has three options to be adopted in selecting the beneficiaries of the scheme.

She said, “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 ₦5, 000 and below.

“We are also using the mobile networks, to know people that top up the credit units for their phones with maybe ₦100 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.

She said, “Let me also say that we have a standard. 25 percent 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.

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 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 these two states affected by the lockdown, together with the FCT but going forward, when we are going to give these food items, we are going to hand them over to the 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 them to distribute to the beneficiaries.

EU Donation

She went on to speak on the ₦21 billion support donated to Nigeria by the European Union to fight COVID-19.

According to the minister, the donation is coming in the form of medical equipment and provision of structures that will assist Nigeria fight the deadly pandemic.

“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.