A week after the Federal Government announced the National Emergency Relief and Stabilisation Intervention (NERSI), a lot of Nigerians are asking who is actually getting the ₦50,000. The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, led by Minister Bernard Doro, announced the programme on 30 October and says payments have started in phases. Beneficiaries are picked automatically from the National Identification Number database held by NIMC and the National Social Register, across all six geopolitical zones. Nobody can apply, and nobody can pay to be added.
People who are selected get an SMS from one of five approved providers, ALAT, MoMo PSB, NairaGram, OPay or Moniepoint. They then accept the grant through a USSD code before the money is credited to a mobile wallet. The ministry says providers contact people in batches, so not getting an SMS yet does not mean you have been left out. It has not published the criteria it used to select households or said how many it will reach in total, and that gap is what most of the complaints on X are about.
The Asaba radio claim in that post is anecdotal, but it shows the mood. Others on X say they have seen people talk about receiving the money while their own wallets stay empty. The government’s line, as reported by Legit.ng and ThePointNG, is that this is a first batch, and those not yet selected should wait for the next one.
Scammers have moved in as well. The programme’s website says there is no registration fee, the grant is not a loan, and no one can speed up payment for money. A genuine message will only ask you to reply YES or dial the provider’s USSD code. It will never ask for your PIN, OTP or BVN.
