‘Most beneficiaries of FG’s humanitarian progs not on social media’

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development Nentawe Yilwatda has dismissed the corruption claims leveled against his ministry, especially as it relates to the administration of government’s intervention initiatives.

There have been concerns about the identities of beneficiaries of these programmes, considering the amount of money devoted to intervention initiatives.

Yilwatda, who was featured during Channels Television’s end-of-year 2024 special review, said: “The people who are at this lower end are not on social media, they are not on the internet; they are not on TV and they are even unbanked,”

“So, these people don’t have a voice; assuming they have a voice, I am sure they would have been talking on our behalf. But unfortunately, they don’t have a voice.

“That’s the reason most people who have a voice, who have phones, who are on social media and TV and radio, are unfortunately not part of the social register because for now, we are dealing with the poorest of the poor in the society who are unbanked, not on social media and don’t have access to the internet.

That is the reason many people have the perception that because their neighbour who may have the well withal is not on the social register then they conclude that the social register is meant for the rich.”

The minister’s comment came weeks after scores of persons were killed in stampedes during food distribution events in some parts of the country.

Yilwatda attributed the development to a lack of organisational skills on the part of the organisers among other reasons. He said the Federal Government has distributed materials to the poor but has never recorded stampedes.