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Federal Government paying N1.5bn to poorest Nigerians – Osinbajo

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Nigeria’s vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has revealed that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration pays N5,000 monthly to over 300,000 of the poorest families across the country, totalling up to N1.5 billion.

Osinbajo stated this in Umuahia, the Abia state capital, at the launch of the Abia state Tele-Health support centre.

He added that that the federal government was giving loans to over 300,000 traders and artisans and feeding 125,624 pupils in 742 schools.

“We have 1,569 cooks in total; for micro-credit loans under our GEEP scheme, we have given loans to 7,585 small businesses,” he said adding that the government had so far invested about N2.4billion of the social investment programmes’ funds in Abia state.

“And specifically in healthcare, we have the Saving One Million Lives Initiative, which has made available $1.5million to each state government – including Abia state – to improve the quality of basic healthcare available especially to our women and children.

“Health insurance is the most effective way of ensuring access to healthcare when needed and at the same time funding our healthcare system, and ensuring that healthcare personnel are well rewarded.

“This commitment has meant two things. First is President Buhari’s determination to break from the past where the federal government only supported states where the party in office was their own.

“At the inauguration of the NEC in 2015, he publicly declared that our own NEC will assist every state because poverty in our nation is no respecter of ethnic group, religion or party affiliation.

“Consequently, as of today the federal government has supported states without discrimination along party lines to the tune of N1.91trillion.

“The second is that the federal government has prioritized social and economic policies and programmes that will bring the greatest benefit to the greatest number of our people.

“We have examples of these in our social investment programmes. Today, we are feeding 7.5million children in our home-grown school feeding programme in 22 states.

“We have employed 200,000 graduates in our N-Power scheme, 300,000 more are waiting to be formally engaged. Every single local government in Nigeria is covered,” Osinbajo added.

According to him, the creation of the Abia state Tele-Health support centre would reduce the time spent travelling in search of healthcare, or waiting in line to see a doctor in healthcare facilities and close the access-to-healthcare gap between urban and rural areas.

“It will also make Abia state standout, within and outside Nigeria, as a forward-looking, people-centred state; one that is open to new ideas and to life-changing innovation,” he said.