The Edo state government, on Wednesday, disclosed that effective from September, it would begin payment of N20,000 monthly palliatives to the vulnerable poor households in the state to cushion the effect of the petroleum subsidy removal.

The commissioner for information and communication, Chris Nehikhare, made this known while addressing newsmen shortly after the state exco meeting in Benin.

Mr Nehikhare said the amount would be paid from the N500 million the governor earlier promised the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) during their protest.

He noted that the fund would be taken from the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR), adding that the beneficiaries would be selected from database of the poorest of the poor in the state.

He explained that the revalidation of the database of the vulnerable poor households in the state was currently ongoing.

“Following the protest by NLC, the governor committed to NLC that the state government will provide N500 million monthly from the IGR for the poorest of the poor in the state.

“I am pleased to report that after that commitment, the state database of the poor is being revised, reviewed and revalidated because the register was compiled between 2019 and 2021.

“What EXCO resolved is that we should revalidate and review the data to add the Edo State Residency Cards and the National Identity Number (NIN) to the database.

“When the review and the revalidation is completed, we shall begin to disburse the sum of N20,000 every month to the over 314,000 households with about One million persons captured in the database.

“We need to emphasise that the N500 million is not from the federal allocation but from the IGR of Edo State,” Mr Nehikhare said.

On security, Mr Nehikhare also disclosed that the state government was currently training about 1,500 volunteers into the state’s vigilante group to strengthen security and make Edo the safest state in Nigeria.

(NAN)