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).
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Farouq, stated this while responding to questions at the Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19 on Tuesday.
Farouq 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.
It represents a U-turn for the FG, who initially said they would only provide cash relief for Nigerians who recharge N100 on their phones and have N5,000 or less in their bank accounts.
This stance was met with criticisms from Nigerians.
Even the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, urged the government to use BVN.
