Explain to Nigerians how you transferred N750bn to people without phones?’ — Atiku tackles APC Chairman

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, to explain how more than 10 million Nigerians who allegedly have no mobile phones received the Federal Government’s N75,000 conditional cash transfers.

Yilwatda had last week claimed that more than 10 million vulnerable Nigerians benefited from the Federal Government’s conditional cash transfer programme, but said many of the beneficiaries did not have mobile phones, television sets or access to social media.

The APC chairman made the disclosure while speaking with journalists after a three-day retreat of the party’s National Executive Council in Maiduguri, Borno State.

He said the beneficiaries were largely poor and vulnerable Nigerians who were unable to participate in public discussions because they lacked access to communication and social media platforms.

“Mind you, these people who are poor and vulnerable don’t have telephones to make calls; they are not on social media. They don’t have television. They cannot come and challenge and discuss as we are doing here, but they are out there,” Yilwatda said.

Reacting in his Independence Day address on Thursday, Atiku questioned how the beneficiaries were identified, contacted and paid, particularly in parts of Borno and Yobe affected by insecurity.

“Professor Yilwatda says many beneficiaries have no phones. So how did your government identify, contact and pay them, particularly in parts of Yobe and Borno where insecurity makes access difficult?” Atiku asked.

“Did officials deliver the money by hand? If so, who delivered it, and where are the receipts?

“If it went into bank accounts, show the transaction records. If you could find ten million people to pay, you can account for the payments,” he added.

Atiku’s challenge came as he criticised the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, accusing the government of worsening the cost-of-living crisis.

“The past three years under Bola Tinubu have plunged Nigeria into the most severe cost of living crisis in our history. Families are not merely tightening their belts. They are skipping meals, delaying treatment and borrowing to survive until payday,” he said.

The ADC candidate also questioned Tinubu’s declaration in his Independence Day address that the period of “emergency treatment” was over and that the country had entered an “age of prosperity.”

“A president may announce a new chapter in a speech. He cannot put food onto a family’s table or money into a worker’s pocket,” Atiku said.

The former vice president’s comments add to the ongoing political debate over the Federal Government’s social intervention programmes, particularly questions surrounding the identification, disbursement and verification of beneficiaries.

Earlier reports have also raised questions about the number of households reached by the programme and the documentation supporting some payments.

A Punch editorial, for instance, cited concerns raised by the Auditor-General over evidence for some electronic cash transfers, while noting that government agencies had reported different beneficiary figures.

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