FG begins N50,000 monthly relief payments to poor Nigerians

The Federal Government has begun paying N50,000 monthly to poor and vulnerable households under a scheme meant to soften the blow of rising food and living costs.

The programme is called the National Emergency Relief and Stabilisation Intervention (NERSI). The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro, announced it in a statement on Friday, October 30, 2026, and payments are now going out in phases.

For an ordinary Nigerian, the key question is simple: how do I know if the money is for me, and how do I avoid the fraudsters already circling?

Who gets it and how

According to the ministry, beneficiaries are drawn from verified national identity records and the National Social Register, then screened to find poor and vulnerable households. There is no application form and no registration fee.

Payments go through mobile wallets linked to a person's phone number and National Identification Number (NIN). The government is working with licensed digital financial service providers, including ALAT by Wema, MoMo Payment Service Bank, NairaGram, OPay and Moniepoint.

Selected beneficiaries get an SMS from one of these providers asking for their consent. Once they accept, the money is credited to their wallet. They can withdraw through banks or Point of Sale (POS) agents, or spend straight from the wallet. People without smartphones can use USSD codes.

OPay said on Tuesday that eligible customers will see a pop-up on its app homepage to continue the process. Customers who cannot see the feature are not eligible, the company said, adding that it does not decide who qualifies. Those with questions should call the NERSI helpline on 0700-022-2222.

No timetable yet, and warnings against scams

The government has not published a timetable showing when each batch will be paid, and it has not said how long the scheme will run. Doro said the programme will be reviewed as the cost of living changes, with beneficiaries told before any adjustment.

A related programme, the Youth Economic Intervention and De-radicalisation Programme (YEIDEP), said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that people whose status shows "NOT SELECTED" should wait for the next batch. It did not promise they would be paid later.

Both the minister and OPay warned against fraud. Doro said nobody should pay an agent to secure a place on the list, and urged Nigerians not to share their PINs or Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) with anyone. OPay said it will never ask for a PIN or one-time password to process a NERSI payment.

The scheme follows earlier efforts such as the 2016 National Social Safety Nets Project, run with the World Bank, which used the National Social Register to target poor households.

What happens next: More batches are expected, but no dates have been given. Watch for an SMS from an approved provider, check your status only through official apps or USSD codes, and call the helpline if anything looks suspicious.