Minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy Wale Edun has said that only about five per cent of people in Nigeria have more than N500,000 in their bank accounts.
Mr Edun said this in an interview with Channels TV on Friday, stating that the Federal Government aims at correcting the system the favours a small group of elite over majority of citizens.
“There has been an effort to ensure that the people’s money is not in the hands of a few. And on that point, I must emphasise that when we talk about the last eight years before Mr. President came to power, there was this liquidity built up,” he said.
“The Issue was that the funds were going to a few. Only about 5% of the population have bank accounts that have more than half a million in them. So, the majority was left out for eight years. They are on the sidelines while a small minority enjoyed.
“That is the major correction being made by Mr. President now. That is the major microeconomic reform that have put in place.
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“So, government revenue that was outside the Federal Government consolidated revenue funds have been brought back to the government funds.”
Edun said the Federal Government is determined to care for the poor by providing a palliative package of N25,000 to N15 million households for the next three months.
He noted that the government will also provide grants to artisans, traders and small business owners to help boost their businesses and improve their livelihood.
“Food prices have gone up and the people’s purchasing power is limited and that is what Mr. President is speaking to through the intervention programmes of direct payment of N75,000 each over three months. That is, N25,000 a month to 15 million households,” he said.
“And each household is about 5 people and that is effectively providing funding for 75 million people.
“That programme has been revamped to make sure that it is robust, that each beneficiary will have NIN number or BVN number or access to mobile money account so that we are sure that the right people are paid and the system is fraud-free.”
