Osinbajo Clears Air on N5,000 Stipend To 25 Million ‘Poor People’

The running mate to retired General Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 presidential elections, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday explained the ‘Conditional Cash Transfer Programme’ included in the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Prof. Yemi Osinbajo

Prof. Osinbajo speaking on Sunrise Daily said “this programme is to lift 25 million of the extremely poor Nigerians; Nigerians who earn less than N200 a day to take care of themselves and their families”.

Prof Osinbajo, who noted that “we have 119 extremely poor Nigerians”, added that the fast way of dealing with that is the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme.

“We will give N5, 000 to the poorest 25 million over a phased period, if their children are enrolled in school and participate in immunization.

“So we are actually doing two things; we are giving stipends to the very poorest and ensuring that in order to earn that stipend they certify two conditions”, he said.

He further noted that the party decided on the 25 million figure because that is what they can deal with in the first phase, adding that “we are looking at phasing it over a period because it will cost about N1.35 trillion to do so if we do all 25 million at once.

He maintained that, if elected, the programme will be done in batches of 5 million people a year, adding that “depending on resources we can even do more”.

He said the N1.35 trillion they are proposing for the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme’ is not so much compared to the AMCON bailout of “persons who are in debt, many businesses and businessmen and it cost N5.7 trillion to do and that is a bailout of the relatively wealthy”.

He argued that the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme will be an injection into the economy by the beneficiaries, adding that it enables “them to put some money into that economy.

“This is the government’s way of not just energizing the local economy but also ensuring that people are empowered. That the very poorest are given a real chance in life”, he maintained.

Prof Osinbajo also spoke on how his party intends to tackle the issues of unemployment, security and corruption.

Osinbajo Clears Air on N5,000 Stipend To 25 Million ‘Poor People’