Presidency speaks on ‘paying N10,000 for PVC’

The presidency has stated that traders are not required to tender their Permanent Voter Card (PVC) before benefiting from the TraderMoni scheme which pays N10,000 to beneficiaries.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a clarification on Sunday, explained that no documentation of any kind was required.

He spoke against the backdrop of claims that PVC was a requirement for the money.

The spokesman said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration would intensify its efforts to empower more Nigerians economically as it continued to inaugurate the collateral-free loans to petty traders across the country.

He said: “The petty traders are not required to show PVC, or any document for that matter, they are only expected to show they are petty traders and this is why the enumeration is done in the markets and wherever the traders ply their trades.”

Akande also explained that those who questioned the timing of the loans had forgotten that the credit scheme was part of the Social Investment Programme (SIP) of the Buhari presidency, and had commenced since 2016.

The media aide said that Trader Moni specifically was conceived in 2016 and wondered if the initiative aimed at empowering traders would be suspended just because some people would insinuate motivations.

“Nigerians already know that the Buhari Administration is one that is projecting the interests of the common man, Nigerians who are at the lower rungs, and this is not a new perception at all.

“This week, the interest-free loans, which have now been launched in eight States including the FCT, would be extended to more States including Oyo, Cross Rivers, and Kaduna States,” he said.

The presidency added that the micro-credit scheme has been introduced Lagos, Kano, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Katsina, Osun, Abuja, Kogi and FCT.