How Did Govt Pay People Without Phones? – Atiku Tackles APC Chair, Yilwatda Over ₦750 Billion Transfer

African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, to explain how the Federal Government transferred money to more than 10 million vulnerable Nigerians who benefited from the ₦75,000 conditional cash transfer programme.

Naija News recalls that Yilwatda, speaking with journalists after a three-day retreat of the APC National Executive Council in Maiduguri, Borno State, said the beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s ₦75,000 conditional cash transfer programme were largely poor Nigerians without phones, television sets, or access to social media.

He said, “Mind you, these people who are poor and vulnerable don’t have telephones to make calls; they are not on social media. They don’t have a television. They cannot come and challenge and discuss as we are doing here, but they are out there.”

However, speaking during his Independence Day address on Thursday, Atiku questioned how the beneficiaries were identified, contacted and paid, particularly in parts of Borno and Yobe affected by insecurity.

He said, “Professor Yilwatda says many beneficiaries have no phones. So how did your government identify, contact and pay them, particularly in parts of Yobe and Borno where insecurity makes access difficult? Did officials deliver the money by hand? If so, who delivered it, and where are the receipts?

“If it went into bank accounts, show the transaction records. If you could find ten million people to pay, you can account for the payments.”

Atiku also criticised President Bola Tinubu administration’s economic policies, accusing the government of worsening the cost-of-living crisis over the past three years.

He added, “The past three years under Bola Tinubu have plunged Nigeria into the most severe cost of living crisis in our history. Families are not merely tightening their belts. They are skipping meals, delaying treatment and borrowing to survive until payday.”