We Shared N193 Billion To Pregnant Women And Lactating Mothers In Seven Months - Jigawa State Government

The Jigawa State government has disclosed that it spent a whopping sum of N192.96 billion to implement its Maternal and Child Cash Transfer (MCCT) programme between November 2021 and June 2022.

Ibrahim Rabakaya, executive secretary, Jigawa State Rehabilitation Board, disclosed this during a three-day validation of Kaduna state’s Graduation Youth-Focused Social Protection programme on Wednesday in Kano.

Mr Rabakaya said the programme was introduced in 2021 based on the successes of the cash transfer programme that was implemented in the state by a Non-Governmental Organisation, Action Against Hunger (AAH).

He explained that the MCCT, which was implemented under the Child Development Grant programme, provided the needed evidence about the effectiveness of cash transfer in addressing poverty and vulnerability.

Mr Rabakaya said the intervention targeted 5,740 beneficiaries – pregnant women and lactating mothers, for conditional cash transfer across the 287 political wards in the state.

He added that 20 beneficiaries were selected from each of the 287 political wards to address stunting among children under five.

According to Mr Rabakaya, every 5,740 beneficiaries received 32,000, N4,000 monthly from November 2021 to June 2022, amounting to N183.68 billion.

He added that N4 million was expended as extra charges, N688.8 million on bank charges, and N4.59 million on automated teller machines cards.

“However, 172 beneficiaries had issues with their Bank Verification Number, and their payment was not successful, but they will receive payment as soon as the issue is resolved,” he said.