Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State

Alhaji Mansur Manu-Soro, Focal Person on Social Investment Programmes in Bauchi State, said on Thursday that poor people in the state would benefit from about N54 million monthly under the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme of the Federal Government.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi that about 10,800 people would benefit from the monthly stipend of N5, 000 when the programme commenced fully.

“What this means is that in the next 24 months, poor persons in the state would benefit from nothing less than about N1.3 billion from the programme, which is a substantial empowerment effort by the government,” he said.

Manu-Soro, who is also the Special Assistant to Gov. Mohammed Abubakar on Development Partners, said the state had established State Coordinating and Transfer units to ensure that the programme did not experience any hitch.

Speaking on the criteria applied in selection of beneficiaries, he said the state had an existing social register that identified the poorest and most vulnerable people through Community-Based Targeting (CBT)

The aide said that apart from using the state poverty map, communities were further requested to identify the poorest amongst them to benefit from the assistance.

“I can assure everybody that the selection process was transparent and devoid of politics.

“Guaranteed Trust Bank (GTB) is handling the distribution and had gone far in preparations for the disbursement of the money to beneficiaries,” he said.

A staff of the GTB in Bauchi who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity, confirmed that arrangement for distribution of funds to beneficiaries had reached advanced stage.

“Beneficiaries have been assisted to open bank accounts and the process of documentation is almost about to be completed.

“The entire process will be completed soon, after which a date will be fixed for the commencement of disbursement,” he said.

A community leader in Bauchi, Malam Maibauchi Ilela, who spoke to NAN on the programme, commended the state and Federal Government for the initiative.

“I was fully involved in determining those who are qualified for the assistance in my community and I can confirm to you that the gesture will help a lot of poor people,” said Ilela, who is the Ward Head of Ilela in Bauchi metropolis.

Two potential beneficiaries in Bauchi metropolis, Mudi Usman and Ummi Mudi, told NAN that they were looking forward to receiving their bank alerts of N5000.

They said the stipend will go a long way in solving their most pressing needs.

Other potential beneficiaries who did not want their names revealed, said the gesture was unprecedented in the history of the country.

“If anybody had told me in the not too distant past that government will give poor people    N5000 monthly, I would have described the talk as a cock-and-bull story.

“But it is almost a reality today; I am thanking the Federal Government in advance, even though I am yet to receive my first bank alert,” said one of them. (NAN)