The Federal Government has explained how selected poor and vulnerable households will receive its ₦50,000 cash grant under the National Emergency Relief and Stabilisation Intervention (NERSI).
The programme, implemented by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, is designed to support vulnerable households facing rising living costs through direct payments into mobile wallets.
According to the government’s guidelines, payments will be made through designated providers, including ALAT, MoMo, NairaGram, OPay and Moniepoint.
How Selected Beneficiaries Will Receive the Grant
The government outlined four steps for beneficiaries to access the funds.
First, selected recipients will receive an SMS notification from one of the designated payment providers.
They will then be required to reply YES to confirm their participation. The guidelines state that no payment will be made without the beneficiary’s consent.
After confirmation, a mobile wallet will be created and linked to the recipient’s phone number and National Identification Number (NIN).
The ₦50,000 grant will subsequently be credited to the wallet. Beneficiaries can withdraw the money through Point of Sale agents or banks, or spend directly from their wallets.
USSD Codes for Withdrawals
The government also provided the following codes for beneficiaries to access their funds:
ALAT (Wema Bank): Dial 94523#, MoMo PSB: Dial *6710#, NairaGram: Dial *72600#, OPay: Dial 95520# or use its mobile application, Moniepoint: Dial 557327# or use its mobile application.
Beneficiaries will receive additional instructions from their respective payment providers after their wallets have been credited.
How Beneficiaries Are Selected
According to the guidelines, beneficiaries are selected using verified national identity records and the National Social Register.
The process is intended to identify poor and vulnerable households eligible for the intervention.
The government stressed that individuals cannot apply independently or pay to be included in the beneficiary list. It also clarified that not everyone will be included in the first batch of payments.
It further explained that beneficiaries’ phone numbers are obtained from the records used for selection and shared with the relevant payment providers for disbursement.
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FG Warns Against Fraud
The Federal Government cautioned Nigerians against fraudsters seeking to exploit the programme by demanding money or sensitive banking information.
It emphasised that the grant is free and that no individual or agent is authorised to collect money to facilitate payment.
Genuine notifications, according to the guidelines, will come only from ALAT, MoMo, NairaGram, OPay or Moniepoint. Recipients will only be asked to reply YES or use their provider’s designated USSD code.
The government said legitimate messages would never request a beneficiary’s Personal Identification Number (PIN), One-Time Password (OTP), password or payment, nor require recipients to click a link.
Beneficiaries were advised not to share their security details with anyone, including agents and officials, and to ignore messages from unauthorised senders.
Frequently Asked Questions
The government clarified that the ₦50,000 payment is a grant, not a loan, and beneficiaries are not required to repay it.
It also stated that the full amount would be credited without deductions and that personal information obtained through the programme would be used only for the intervention.
