NEC abandons Buhari's govt social register, says it's riddled with integrity issue

The national social register used by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari has been abandoned by the National Economic Council, or NEC.

The council revealed during its meeting at the presidential villa in Abuja that the register is riddled with integrity issues, and that the criteria for its compilation are unclear.

Contrary to what the previous administration claimed, the governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo, told reporters that it is not possible to digitally transfer money to the poorest of the poor, the majority of whom are not bankable.

Soludo noted that beneficiaries of the purportedly transferred cash could not be identified in the villages, and he was joined by his counterparts from the states of Ogun and Bauchi, Bala Mohammed and Dapo Abiodun, respectively.nstead, the council, led by Vice President Kashim Shettima, suggested on Thursday that a cash transfer programme for states based on their social registers and a cash reward policy for public employees be implemented over a six-month period.

The resolution was reached at the NEC meeting held on Thursday.

The meeting, presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima, was attended by governors from the Federation’s 36 states, the Director General of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, as well as stakeholders from the World Bank and other government agencies.

Government officials were urged to reduce the cost of governance in their various spheres during the meeting. This comes as the federal government implements a six-month cash award policy for public employees.

State governments are to distribute food grains and fertilisers at the rate obtained from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and states are urged to double down on energy transition plans in the transportation sector.