FALSE claim circulates online that Nigerian government is giving N25,000 relief funds

A POST has been shared repeatedly on social media claiming that the Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria is giving out free N25,000 Relief Funds.

The post retrieved from a WhatsApp group on September 25 directed people to claim their own via a link.

The post reads: “Government has finally approved and have started giving out free N25,000 Relief Funds to each citizen

Below is how to claim and get yours credit Instantly as I have just did now

Note : You can only claim and get credited once and it’s also limited so get your now Instantly.”

The circulated claim has a website address that have “COVID-19” in it and also the site generated thumbnail reads “Government lockdown funds”.

THE CLAIM:

That Federal Government of Nigeria is giving out free N25,000 relief funds.

THE FINDINGS:

Since the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria, the Federal Government (FG) has rolled out several initiatives to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 on the citizens.

For instance, the FG on May 14, 2020 through the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHDS) launched the modified home grown school feeding programme to provide for beneficiaries of school feeding programme while they stay at home during the lock down.

Similarly, the Nigeria Government on April 1 commenced the disbursement of N20,000 Conditional Cash Transfer to poor homes in the country. This initiative was also ssupervised by the ministry of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development.

A more recent intervention is the N75 billion survival fund launched by the FG through the ministry of state for industry, trade and investment for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Checks by The FactCheckHub revealed that the purported N25,000 Relief Funds is  not connected with any of  initiatives by the Federal Government.

Similarly, The FactCheckHub also reached out to the FMHDS – the ministry that supervises such relief initiatives for the government – to confirm the veracity of the claim.

Halima Oyelade, a Special Assistant on Media to the FMHDS minister noted that the claim in circulation is false and that the federal government is not giving out free N25,000 Relief Funds.

”This is not true,” she replied The FactCheckHub‘s enquiry via a text message.

In addition, clicking on the site takes you to a page that asks you to fill a survey form, after which it asks you to share the page numerous times in a similar fashion that market research surveys work.

THE VERDICT:

The claim that Federal Government of Nigeria is giving out free N25,000 relief funds is FALSE.