Since October 2023, less than 40 per cent of targeted households have benefited from the Federal Government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme, designed to cushion the economic hardship facing vulnerable Nigerians. A new mid-year report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shows that only 36 per cent of the 15 million households earmarked for support have received any payment under the initiative.
The programme was relaunched in 2023 following the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market by the administration of President Bola Tinubu. It is intended to directly assist households in the lowest poverty bracket by providing periodic cash transfers. However, PwC’s findings highlight gaps in both coverage and consistency of payments.
According to the report, 5.6 million households received at least one payment, but only 2.4 million benefitted from a second transfer, and fewer than 1.3 million progressed to a third tranche after biometric verification. The uneven distribution raises concerns over the pace and effectiveness of the programme in addressing widespread poverty.
To address these shortcomings, the government in April launched a National Identity Number (NIN) enrolment campaign aimed at improving transparency in the Social Register. Under the revised process, at least one adult in every eligible household must be verified through a NIN or Bank Verification Number (BVN) before cash can be disbursed. PwC observed that this approach, particularly in rural areas where identification systems remain weak, could help the government target support more accurately to those most in need.
In May, the Federal Government announced that 2.3 million households had been verified and cleared for payment under the renewed CCT framework. The programme is partly financed by an $800 million World Bank loan, out of which $530 million had been disbursed as of April 30, 2025.
The World Bank, in its Nigeria Development Update report titled Building Momentum for Inclusive Growth, echoed PwC’s concerns about the limited reach of the programme. It noted that just 37 per cent of households had received at least one round of transfers and urged the government to scale up efforts to support the poorest and most economically at-risk Nigerians. The report emphasized that biometric verification linked to a foundational digital identity remained critical to the initiative’s sustainability and credibility.
Meanwhile, PwC’s report also examined global developments and their implications for Nigeria. It noted that geopolitical tensions in the first half of 2025 including heightened U.S.–China rivalry, conflicts in the Middle East, and increasing cyber threats had a muted impact on global oil prices. Despite elevated risks, prices remained relatively stable, limiting any windfall gains for oil-exporting countries such as Nigeria.
Overall, the CCT programme remains a central plank of the government’s social protection agenda. Yet, both PwC and the World Bank stress that without faster implementation, broader coverage, and stronger verification mechanisms, the initiative risks falling short of its promise to shield millions of Nigerians from worsening economic hardship.
