COVID-19 palliative: FG accepts Tinubu’s advice, to pay Nigerians money via BVN

The Federal Government has said it will expand the social register for palliative distribution, by employing digital models including the use of Bank Verification Number (BVN).

Earlier, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu , had urged the Federal Government to make cash payments to households through Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) to cushion the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on Nigerians.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Farouq, who made this disclosure while responding to questions at Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19 on Tuesday, noted that deploying digital means will be faster and make the distribution more effective.

“We are using other models including BVN to identify bank accounts. We are also using mobile phone networks to identify poor and vulnerable people in the society.

“This is going to be faster, transparent and give room for more accountability,” Farouq said.