Federal government says its transport subsidy payment of N5,000 to the vulnerable will be transferred digitally for a minimum period of six months and a maximum of 12 months.
Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, made this known while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Zainab Ahmed noted that government would kick starts payment after the removal of fuel subsidy in June 2022 to give people time to adjust.
She explained that as at the last Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting, fuel subsidy costs the country nearly N250 billion per month and three trillion annually as the NNPC remits near-zero naira.
The Minister who said, this had made the removal expedient noted that support fund upon approval from FAAC for 20-40 million Nigerians would not be done in cash.
She further encouraged States to financially contribute to the N5,000 relief fund to improve the productive abilities of Nigerians.
It could be recalled that on Tuesday, the minister at the launch of the World Bank Nigeria Development Update (NDU), said Nigeria will remove fuel subsidies by 2022 and replace them with a N5000-a-month transportation grant to the poorest Nigerians.
The Minister added that the final number of beneficiaries would depend on the resources available after the removal of the fuel subsidy.