The Minister for Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite has provided an update on the ₦50,000 grant to nano business owners.
In a press release issued over the weekend, Uzoka-Anite stated that beneficiaries of the scheme have commenced receiving alerts from the Federal Government.
More than 200,000 small business owners have already received the payment, with an additional 800,000 individuals expected to receive their grants before the program’s conclusion on May 31.
The minister said the initiative aims to reach 1,000,000 Nigerians across all 774 local government areas. Beneficiaries were selected randomly from 3.6 million applicants who met specified criteria.
The initiative, introduced as part of palliative measures to alleviate the impact of petrol subsidy removal, is supported by a ₦50 billion budget allocated in the 2024 budget.
Dr. Uzoka-Anite explained that the application portal was closed due to overwhelming demand, with over 3.6 million applications received.
She said, “The application portal was closed at midnight on April 17. The portal had to be closed due to an overwhelming number of applications totalling over 3.6 million.
“The Bank of Industry is ensuring transparency and accountability in the N50 billion disbursement by verifying NIN, BVN, and bank account details to prevent duplication.
“They will also perform physical enumeration to re-verify information, including taking photographs of beneficiaries.
“The time frame for disbursement is the end of May 2024. The requirement for determining the beneficiaries is not based on particular criteria.
“The goal is to reach 1,290 beneficiaries per local government area across the country, totalling one million people.”
On why many of the beneficiaries have not been reached, she explained: “We acknowledge that some of the beneficiaries are getting alert while others are not.
“The disbursement is subject to verification of NIN, which became mandatory after the initial application phase, which required only BVN.
“The selection is random and without human intervention from those who have passed their NIN and BVN verification.
“Applicants will learn if they are verified through publications. Verification is a digital process.
“Individuals will not need to be contacted after verification but the disbursement will happen automatically if they are passed.”
The Minister, however, ruled out the possibility of giving the grant to all the 3.6 million applicants.
She said; “It is not all the 3.6 million applicants that will receive alerts. The goal is to ensure one million of them get the N50,000 grants.
“N50 billion is the threshold of the amount budgeted for nano businesses in 2024. We cannot verify and pay everyone at the same time.
“The process has been thorough and time-consuming, conducted in batches to minimise errors.”
Uzoka-Anite said that disbursement has been carried out across all states, progressing through each local government one by one, based on verified applications.
The minister assured transparency by confirming that the list of beneficiaries will be accessible for verification using BVN and last name.
Regarding extending the scheme to accommodate more beneficiaries, the minister said that there are no current plans for another grant, and any decision on further assistance will be made by the president.
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