Osun State Government on Tuesday said it has commenced payment of stipends to 25,907 vulnerable citizens in the state as part of palliative to cushion impacts of the state-wide lockdown.

A statement by Ismail Omipidan, Chief Press Secretary to Osun State Governor, explained that Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, had also directed immediate distribution of Debit Cards linked to the accounts of the beneficiaries in a bid to ensure transparency, accountability and seamless process.

Omipidan explained that the governor approved the payment of N20,000 each to 15,289 elderly citizens and people living with disabilities captured under the Special Grant Transfer (SGT) scheme.

Also, he said approval had also been given for the immediate payment of N7,500 stipends to 10,618 beneficiaries who are vulnerable youths captured under Public Workfare (PWF) programme.

Quoting the State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Lawal Olayemi, who spoke in Ile-Ife, during the distribution of the Debit Cards to the beneficiaries, the statement, also maintained that Oyetola was committed to the people’s welfare, noted that the gesture would go a long way in transforming the lives of the beneficiaries.

He then clarified that the disbursement of the funds under the SGT and PWF was different from the Federal Government Conditional Cash Transfer recently launched by the Governor.

Lawal added that the Governor had also mandated the immediate release of the monthly and quarterly stipends to the beneficiaries as part of efforts to alleviate the effects of hardship that the people are going through due to the lockdown.

He said the scheme which started in July, 2019 was a partnership between the Osun State Government and World Bank.

The statement read,

“This is a collaboration between the state government and World Bank designed to alleviate poverty, hunger and unemployment among the people in the state. We commenced the exercise in line with the governor’s directive to ensure that every beneficiary under the scheme get paid.

“There are two categories of beneficiaries. The first are the set of people living with disabilities and the aged. They are 15,289 and captured under the Special Grant Transfer (SGT). Also, there is Public Work Fare (PWF) which is designed for the youths and the beneficiaries under this are 10,618.

“The elderly ones and those living with disabilities are given N20,000 each quarterly while the beneficiaries under the Public Workfare (PWF) each take home N7,500 monthly.”