A ministerial nominee of President Bola Tinubu, Adebayo Olawale Edun, has suggested how the Federal Government will administer the $800m loan acquired from the World Bank.
Edun who was Lagos State Commissioner of Finance during Tinubu’s tenure as governor of the state was also screened by the Senate on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.
The Federal Government plans to share the sum as palliative to cushion the effect of the removed fuel subsidy as the $800m World Bank loan will be shared to 12 million households for 6 months, with each household to get N8,000.
Edun during his screening hinted that the money will be shared to recipients who have unique bank identity.
He was asked by the former President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawal, to explain how he would approach the cash palliative so that the money can effectively be shared to poor Nigerians.
Based on Statistics, around 40 million Nigerians are unbanked and the country’s National Social Register is dominated by poor and vulnerable citizens who are the major targets of the palliative.
Edun clearly cited his examples with India using the digital identity, adding that the model will be adopted.
He explained that virtually every bank in India achieved a lot in its banking system using the digital identity.
“Distinguished senator, India, would achieve what we are trying to achieve. And what is giving us so much difficulty in achieving it is a digital identity. I am not to talk about the $800 million world bank loan.
“It has proved so unpopular, has been spoken of in such a deregatory terms that I think its not something that I will like to bring up or comment on at this stage other than to say, it is probably important to find a way not to throw the baby with the bath water.
“Senator Lawal, I know, that the provision and the conditions surrounding that financing by the world bank is that every recipient should have a biometric verification, otherwise he may not be eliglible for that funding.
“So, in section 22, clearly, there is a register that shows those biometric validations to an extent, but I should say sir, it needs to do more to reach people outside of the poorer financial system. And I should say, N500 billion supplementary budget. I think that is an appropriate sum,” he said.
