What Does “Not Selected” Really Mean for FG’s ₦50,000 Grant?

Many Nigerians who have dialled the USSD code for the Federal Government’s new ₦50,000 grant this week got a two-word reply, “Not Selected,” while a neighbour or relative received a text and was paid the same day. The message gives no reason. Because nobody can apply for the grant and the rules for choosing recipients have not been published, people who see it have no way of telling whether they were screened out or were never in the system.

Humanitarian Affairs Minister Bernard Doro announced the National Emergency Relief and Stabilisation Intervention (NERSI) on October 30. He said it would ease the pressure of rising food prices and the cost of essential goods, and payments began rolling out last week. Selected people receive a text from an approved payment provider such as Moniepoint or OPay. They dial a USSD code from the number that received it, a wallet is opened in their name, and ₦50,000 is credited. Anyone can dial in to check their status, but only those already chosen are paid.

The choosing happens earlier. The NERSI website says beneficiaries are drawn from verified national identity records and the National Social Register, then screened to reach poor and vulnerable households. The National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office says the register holds data on more than 70 million people. Doro has said that being on it does not automatically qualify a household for cash. Moniepoint and OPay say they play no part in deciding who qualifies and only verify eligibility and deliver the money.

According to the two payment companies, “Not Selected” refers to the current phase and not necessarily to later ones. The government says it is paying in batches to a limited number of households at a time, and it has told people who have not received a text not to assume they have been left out. The only meaning anyone has confirmed, then, is “not this round.” Punch reported that enrolment in both the identity database and the social register is a prerequisite but that the screening applied after that is not spelled out. A person on both registers who has not yet been picked gets the same message as a person missing from one of them.

The criteria are not the only gap. The government has not said how long NERSI will run or when payments will end. Doro described the grant as a monthly payment, but the programme’s website calls it a one-off. Nor has the government disclosed a budget, funding source or beneficiary target. At ₦50,000 per household, reaching one million households would cost ₦50 billion a month, and five million would cost ₦250 billion. There is also no published way for someone who believes they qualify to be assessed.

In a clarification issued on November 6, the government said selection is automated and based on need, and that no application, payment or personal connection is involved. It gave a helpline, 0700-022-2222, and warned recipients never to share a PIN, OTP or BVN or to pay anyone who promises them a place on the list.

Some civil society groups want more detail. ActionAid has asked the government to publish the selection criteria and funding source and to create a way for people missing from the register to be assessed. It has argued that relying only on IDs, phones and bank accounts could leave out the poorest households, and that the scheme’s timing ahead of the 2027 elections calls for openness about who is paid. The CBN has separately warned that election spending could push inflation higher, adding to the prices NERSI is supposed to offset, at a time when many are already asking how much life has improved for the average Nigerian. Earlier cash transfers have also drawn scrutiny. Legit reported that the Auditor-General found insufficient evidence that ₦33.75 billion paid out in 2023 reached 3.29 million genuine beneficiaries.

For now, someone who sees “Not Selected” has been told only that they were not picked in this phase. Since new batches are still going out, they can check again later. They can also call the helpline if they believe they qualify and make sure their NIN is registered and linked to their phone number. They should use only codes that come from official channels, not ones forwarded on WhatsApp, and should refuse anyone who asks for money or account details in exchange for a place on the list. Whether the public comes to trust a scheme that takes no applications will depend on how much the government is willing to disclose about who it pays and why.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment