Sultan Quadri and Kehinde Fajobi

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Farouq

SUMMARY


A viral WhatsApp suggests that the federal government is sharing N5000 lockdown fund through a link it provided.


CONCLUSION


The claim is outrightly false. The federal government has not provided any link to ascertain if one qualifies for the conditional cash transfer. The Federal government is using the National Social Register (NSR) to ascertain eligibility.


FULL STORY


A WhatsApp post embedded with a link has been making rounds on WhatsApp. The post headline reads “Free N5,000 Lockdown Funds to sustain During this lockdown”.

It claims that FG has started giving out “free N5,000” to sustain and support citizens during the lockdown period.

The Whatsapp post deceives Nigerians to provide answers to the questions on the site to check if they are eligible for the cash reward and prompts them to share to get the cash transfer.


There was even a clause “Its available for just a few people so claim yours now!!”, which ensures that people shared it fast.


There is also a picture of people expressing gratitude for the 5k ” lockdown” gift.


VERIFICATION


The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster management announced that the National Social Register (NSR) will be used to disbursed a sum of N20,000 to 2.6 million people. The number of Nigerians that will benefit was increased by President Muhammadu Buhari in his national address on Monday, 13th of April, 2020 by 1 million making it a total of 3.6 million beneficiaries.


The federal government revealed that money will be sent to a beneficiary’s account after passing through a series of verification so there no need to register through any link.


The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management have not provided any link at this time to verify any Nigerian for the conditional cash transfer.


The link connects to a shabby designed website that is in no way related to any relevant federal government ministry or parastatal.

Stay Safe, Stay At Home and be Responsible.

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