Hajiya Umar Farouk, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, says the ministry now embraces digital payment for N5, 000 conditional cash transfer (CCT) to the vulnerable people.

The minister said this at the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 news briefing on Monday in Abuja, adding that four states were now on digital payment.

She explained that the ministry now pays using mobile phones, BVN and wallet to beneficiaries, adding that the ministry was working hard to increase the current figure of the vulnerable in the country.

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Farouk said that the main focus of the ministry on the conditional cash transfer to the vulnerable was now targeted at the urban poor, adding that this became necessary because they were most affected by the lockdown.

On food distribution as a palliative by the ministry, Farouk said it had been handed over to the governors, stressing that it started with Lagos, Ogun, and FCT because they were the most affected with the lockdown.

She said that Imo and Ebonyi states also benefited from the gesture, stressing that the ministry was revisiting the existing register for cash distribution because the current process was cumbersome.

Also, the minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, stated that 60 Nigerians stranded in Côte d’Ivoire and 24 in Togo had been brought back to Nigeria.

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He said they have all gone into the mandatory 14 days isolation,  which according to him, was the required standard for any returnee into the country, adding that all the returnees from Togo were tested negative.

According to him, the test for COVID-19 for the returnees would only be necessary if they show any symptoms.

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