Osun Gov. Oyetola approves N20,000 for 25,907 residents, extends lockdown

Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State has ordered payment of N20,000 stipends each to 25,907 indigent citizens amid coronavirus pandemic in the state.

This was disclosed in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Ismail Omipidan, on Tuesday.

Oyetola also directed immediate distribution of Debit Cards linked to the accounts of the beneficiaries to ensure transparency, accountability, and seamless process.

Omipidan noted that the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Hon. Lawal Azeez Olayemi, made the disclosures in Ile-Ife where he distributed the cards to beneficiaries.

His words: “The scheme is one of the best social intervention programmes in the country. The governor had approved the payment of N20,000 each to 15,289 elderly citizens and people living with disabilities captured under the Special Grant Transfer (SGT) scheme.”

He added that approval had also been given for the immediate payment of N7,500 stipends to 10,618 vulnerable youths captured under the Public Workfare (PWF) programme.

He clarified the disbursement of the funds under the SGT and PWF was different from the Federal Government Conditional Cash Transfer recently launched by the Governor.

Olayemi added that the Governor had also mandated the immediate release of the monthly and quarterly stipends to the beneficiaries as part of efforts to alleviate the effects of hardship that the people are going through due to the lockdown.

He said the scheme, which started in July 2019 was a partnership between the Osun State Government and World Bank. 

However, the governor has extended the state lockdown for another 14 days in his statewide broadcast held 8pm. on Tuesday. 

“In order to ensure a total defeat of coronavirus in Osun, we shall extend lockdown by another 14 days,” Oyetola said in his statewide broadcast.

“But to allow our people to re-stock to survive this lockdown period, the lockdown is suspended between Wednesday, 15th and Thursday, 16th April, 2020,” he added. 

Oyetola said the decision was imperative in view of the devastating nature of the pandemic.