The Federal Government says it has commenced efforts aimed at lifting 40 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next two years through the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES).

The national coordinator of the NG-CARES programme, Abdulkarim Obaje, made the disclosure at the closing of a week-long workshop in Ibadan.

“This modest support should have direct impact on about eight to 10 million Nigerians and indirectly impact on 20 to 30 million people.

“We are very confident that this will impact the poverty situation in Nigeria after two years,” he said.

He said that the NG-CARES was the initiative of the federal government, with the support of the World Bank and active participation of the 36 state governors.

Mr Obaje said that the programme would be implemented along 11 Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs), starting from social transfer to the aged, the poor and the vulnerable.

He said that it would also involve labour-intensive work fare to livelihood grants, basic services and food security to micro and small-scale enterprises spread across 11 DLIs.

According to him, the result from the workshop reveals that states are now fully prepared to receive Independent Verification Agents (IVAs).

Also, the chairman of the Federal Cares Technical Committee of NG-CARES Programme, Aso Vakporaye, said that the exercise was not a new package, adding that it was part of the government’s sustainable development agenda.

(NAN)