Many poor and vulnerable Nigerians risk being defrauded of what is left with them as Nigeria’s Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has failed to communicate the details of its plan for President Bola Tinubu’s cash transfer palliative programme.
Development Diaries reports that the minister, Betta Edu, recently alerted Nigerians to the existence of a portal created with the intention of defrauding Nigerians.
‘The FG Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund Registration Portal is fake and did not emanate from the ministry or any other agency of government’, she said in a statement.
‘The general public is, therefore, advised to discountenance the link being circulated’.
While the ministry is alerting Nigerians to fake portals, what is the ministry’s National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) doing to inform Nigerians about the process for cash disbursement?
When government ministries fail to keep citizens informed about policy implementation, it creates a troubling gap in transparency and accountability.
Without regular updates and clear communication, citizens are left in the dark, and this lack of information can erode trust in the government.
Over four million Nigerians were forced into poverty in the first half of this year, according to the World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update (NDU). If action is not taken to control the impact of subsidy removal, an additional 7.1 million people are anticipated to become poorer.
Many Nigerians are hungry and desperate and will easily fall prey to fraudsters if the ministry continues to keep mum on its plans for cash transfer palliative.
In the absence of accurate information, rumours and misinformation can spread, leading to confusion and social unrest.
Development Diaries once again reiterates its call on the ministry to proactively and transparently communicate the policy implementation processes of the cash transfer programme to citizens for better outcomes.
We also urge NSIP to provide information on the details of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) the government is working with to collate the names of beneficiaries for this cash transfer so that Nigerians can identify the fraudsters that pose as NGOs.
Photo source: Betta Edu
