10m Conditional Cash Transfer Beneficiaries Have No Phones, Social Media — APC Chair
By Aliyu Oyewole
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Nentawe Yilwatda, has said more than 10 million Nigerians who benefited from the Federal Government’s conditional cash transfer programme are largely absent from social media because many of them do not own mobile phones.
Yilwatda made the disclosure while speaking with journalists after a three-day retreat of the APC National Executive Council in Maiduguri, Borno State.
The APC chairman said the beneficiaries were among the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians targeted by the government’s intervention programmes, making their experiences less visible in the digital space.
According to him, the government had distributed N75,000 to more than 10 million Nigerians through the conditional cash transfer scheme under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.
He explained that the beneficiaries should not be expected to publicly discuss or promote the impact of the intervention on social media because many lack access to smartphones, television and other communication platforms.
“Mind you, these people who are poor and vulnerable don’t have telephone to make call, they are not on social media. They don’t have television. They cannot come and challenge and discuss as we are doing here, but they are out there,” Yilwatda said.
Why beneficiaries are not visible online
Yilwatda’s comments came amid discussions about the visibility and impact of government programmes targeted at poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
He argued that judging the reach of such programmes through social media reactions alone could overlook millions of beneficiaries who have little or no presence online.
The APC chairman also listed road construction, student loans and humanitarian interventions among the programmes being implemented by the President Bola Tinubu administration.
He said ongoing road projects were also creating employment for Nigerians at construction sites across the country.
“We are constructing roads and paying people that are working on the road site and construction is going across the country,” he added.
Yilwatda also disclosed that the APC National Executive Council reviewed the party’s activities from the national level down to wards and polling units during the Maiduguri retreat.
He said the party remained focused on strengthening its structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to him, the NEC passed a vote of confidence in President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and other APC candidates who emerged from the party’s primaries.
He added that the party would intensify reconciliation efforts in areas experiencing internal disagreements.
Yilwatda said state chapters had been encouraged to establish reconciliation committees to address disputes and improve cohesion within the party.
He further stated that the APC would take the policies and programmes of the Tinubu administration to Nigerians across the country as the party prepares for the 2027 elections.
The APC chairman also expressed condolences to the government and people of Niger State following the deaths of 37 miners in a mining accident, describing the incident as a major concern to the party.
