The World Bank has reported that Nigeria’s cash-based social intervention programmes reached 67.19 million people and 10.44 million households by August 2026, even as questions over the identification and traceability of beneficiaries continue to trail the government’s cash transfer programme.
In its latest Implementation Status and Results Report on the National Social Safety Net Programme-Scale Up, the World Bank said that 10.43 million poor and vulnerable households had received economic shock-responsive cash transfers.
The report said that more than 7.1 million households had received all three tranches of the transfer after undergoing biometric verification using their National Identification Numbers (NINs) or Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs).
According to local media reports, the scale of the figures comes against continuing concerns over the ability to independently verify the beneficiaries and payments.
The report noted that many Nigerians, including the opposition parties, have raised issues over the transparency of the programme.
For instance, the Auditor General for the Federation’s office, in its 2024 annual report on non compliance/internal control weaknesses, had questioned the documentation supporting N33.751 billion in electronic transfers to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states in 2023.
The audit report said that the payment vouchers did not contain full beneficiary details and that the Remita statement required to reconcile those who received the payments with persons listed on the national social register and national beneficiary register was not presented for examination.
The auditors consequently said that they were unable to authenticate the payments or establish whether the beneficiaries who received the money were genuine.
Similarly, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar recently questioned the difference between a 15-million-household figure announced by the presidency in July and the later government statement that more than 10 million households had received cash transfers.
Atiku also questioned the arithmetic surrounding the government’s disclosure that over N600 billion had been disbursed, asking the government to provide a verifiable trail showing the households paid, the number of tranches received, failed transactions, and reversals.
It will be recalled that President Bola Tinubu had earlier suspended Betta Edu, after reports emerged that she had authorised the transfer of N585 million to a private account for payments to vulnerable groups.
But the latest World Bank report provided a fresh set of figures on the programme’s reach. It said the number of people covered by cash-based interventions rose from 60.09 million in May to 67.19 million in August 2026, exceeding the programme’s June 2027 closing target of 56 million.
Overall, women accounted for 39.77 million of those covered, while 12.32 million were youths, the report said.
The World Bank said 57.6 per cent of primary beneficiaries were women, above the programme’s 45 per cent target, while 81 per cent of beneficiary households were in the bottom six income deciles.
The report also said 12.9 million households had been visited as part of the verification exercise, while more than 15.8 million NINs had been verified in the social registry. Of these, it stated that 10.95 million households had been verified using NINs and BVNs and integrated into the national benefit delivery management system.
According to the global lender, 98.9 per cent of beneficiary households received transfers within 10 days of the scheduled payment date, while beneficiary satisfaction stood at 87.7 per cent.
It said all transfers were being made directly into beneficiary-owned digital accounts backed by biometric identification.
The World Bank also said the modernised social registry was not yet operational as of August 2026, although it was expected to become operational by June 2027.
On financing, the report said the programme’s $800 million International Development Association (IDA) facility had been revised to $776.42 million, of which $762.43 million, representing 98.2 per cent, had been disbursed.
GIK/APA