FG’s digital relief scheme risks missing poorest households as NIN, phone gaps persist

Log in or create a free account to get started.

Read History Go to My Account Log Out Enhanced by Google Technology FG’s digital relief scheme risks missing poorest households as NIN, phone gaps persist The Federal Government’s new N50,000 monthly relief programme risks leaving some of Nigeria’s poorest households outside its payment system, as

Listen to this article Share The Federal Government’s new N50,000 monthly relief programme risks leaving some of Nigeria’s poorest households outside its payment system, as beneficiaries without registered mobile phone numbers, verified National Identification Numbers (NINs) or access to digital financial services may struggle to receive the assistance.

Recall, the National Emergency Relief and Stabilisation Intervention (NERSI), introduced to cushion the impact of rising food prices and living costs, relies exclusively on five digital financial service providers: ALAT by Wema Bank, MoMo Payment Service Bank, NairaGram, OPay and Moniepoint.

Under the arrangement, selected households identified through the National Social Register and verified NIN records receive SMS notifications from participating providers. Beneficiaries must respond YES to consent before a mobile wallet linked to their phone number and NIN is credited with N50,000.

Although the government says the arrangement eliminates intermediaries and reduces payment leakages, its dependence on existing identity and digital infrastructure raises questions about whether the households facing the greatest financial hardship can navigate the system.

Data from the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) 2026 Access to Financial Services in Nigeria survey show that formal financial inclusion stands at 73 percent nationally, but the disparity between urban and rural populations remains significant.

While formal financial inclusion reached 85 percent among urban adults, it stood at just 58 percent among rural residents, representing a 27-percentage-point gap.

Overall financial inclusion increased to 79 percent, representing approximately 94.2 million adults, while financial exclusion remained at 21 percent. Digital financial services usage rose to 64.4 percent.

The figures expose a potential weakness in the government’s delivery strategy: the populations most likely to depend on emergency assistance are also among those least connected to formal financial services.

For rural households without bank accounts or established digital wallets, receiving an SMS and navigating a mobile payment system could present additional obstacles, even where basic mobile network coverage exists.

The problem extends beyond financial inclusion to access to mobile phones and identity documentation.

According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), active mobile subscriptions reached approximately 197.4 million in August 2026, with teledensity at 91.1 percent. However, subscriptions do not represent unique individuals, as Nigerians can own multiple SIM cards.

Consequently, the headline figures on mobile connectivity may overstate the number of people with direct access to a functioning mobile connection.

GSMA estimates that approximately 140 million Nigerians were in the mobile internet usage gap in 2025, meaning they lived in areas covered by mobile broadband networks but did not use mobile internet services.

Its estimates also show a substantial rural-urban disparity in ownership of internet-enabled handsets, with penetration at approximately 51 percent among rural adults compared with 79 percent in urban areas.

Although NERSI allows beneficiaries to access their wallets through USSD codes without smartphones or mobile data, this does not resolve the problem for households without functional phones, registered SIM cards or reliable network access.

The identity requirement creates another potential barrier.

National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) enrolment has exceeded 142 million, but enrolment figures do not necessarily translate into verified identities available for programme delivery.

World Bank reporting as of late September 2026 indicated that approximately 121 million Nigerians had received verified NINs, leaving a gap of about 59 million against the country’s 180 million target.

This shortfall raises questions about the reach of a relief programme whose beneficiary identification and wallet-linking processes depend on verified NIN records.

Women, children and residents of remote communities remain among the populations inadequately represented in the identity system. Although not every person without a verified NIN would qualify for NERSI, the gap highlights the possibility that eligible vulnerable households could remain invisible to the government’s targeting infrastructure.

The programme’s reliance on the National Social Register further limits access for households that have not been captured in existing government databases.

Unlike an open relief scheme, NERSI does not provide a public application process through which excluded households can independently establish eligibility. Its delivery mechanism instead depends on existing records, verification and notifications from participating providers.

This means that households missing from the relevant databases may have no straightforward route into the current payment cycle, even when they meet the programme’s poverty criteria.

The concerns over digital access and beneficiary transparency are not entirely new.

In early October 2026, Morris Monye, an investor and public commentator, questioned the accessibility and transparency of an earlier cash-transfer programme involving N33.75 billion reportedly disbursed under the National Cash Transfer Office.

“If the beneficiaries don’t have phones, how did they receive the money. Is it not through banks? Or was it cash? If they don’t have phones, how did they apply for it? If they don’t have phones, how do they access BVN to verify identities of recipients. Where is the register showing the names of these people,” he asked.

Although Monye’s intervention concerned an earlier cash-transfer programme rather than the NERSI digital-wallet arrangement introduced at the end of October, it raises a broader accountability question about how the government identifies, verifies and reaches financially excluded households when designing social protection interventions.

For NERSI, the issue is not simply whether digital payments can deliver money faster, but whether the government’s beneficiary identification system captures the people the intervention is intended to support.

Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction minister Bernard Doro announced the commencement of NERSI payments in a statement on October 30, describing the intervention as a shock-responsive cash transfer designed to help households meet essential needs and ease the burden of living costs.

He said the ministry was working with licensed digital financial service providers to ensure secure and transparent delivery.

“Beneficiaries will receive an SMS from one of these providers asking for their consent. This message is genuine. Once consent is given, payment is made directly to the beneficiary’s account/mobile wallet,” Doro said.

The minister also clarified that beneficiaries would not need to submit applications, pay fees or engage agents to access the funds. Payments would be made in phases across geopolitical zones, with a government helpline, 0700-022-2222, available for enquiries.

The participating providers have similarly defended the digital approach.

Babatunde Olofin, managing director and chief executive officer of Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, said the institution was pleased to support eligible customers receiving government relief through its technology and infrastructure.

He urged customers to use official channels, stressing that the process involved no additional costs or third-party intervention.

The government has a legitimate reason to favour digital payments. Direct wallet credits can reduce the risks associated with cash intermediaries, improve transaction traceability and provide a more efficient way to distribute funds across multiple locations.

USSD access also offers an important alternative to smartphone-based applications, while withdrawals through POS agents and banks provide beneficiaries with options to convert digital balances into cash.

However, these advantages address the mechanics of payment rather than the more fundamental question of beneficiary access.

A household cannot receive a digital transfer if it is absent from the relevant beneficiary records, lacks the identity credentials required for verification or cannot access the phone number through which the notification and wallet activation are processed.

The distinction is important because financial inclusion statistics measure access to financial services across the population, while NERSI targets a narrower and potentially more disadvantaged segment.

The government therefore needs to demonstrate that its beneficiary database adequately captures rural households, informal workers, farmers and other vulnerable populations that may not have established digital financial footprints.

Without alternative verification and payment arrangements for eligible households facing these barriers, the programme could improve the efficiency of disbursement without necessarily improving the reach of social protection.

As subsequent payment batches are processed, the effectiveness of NERSI will depend not only on how much money reaches digital wallets but also on how many eligible households are left out before the payments begin.

For a programme intended to cushion the poorest Nigerians against rising living costs, the ultimate test is whether digital delivery expands access to relief or reinforces the financial and identity barriers that already separate vulnerable rural households from essential government support.

Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria’s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.