“It is either that the former leader is ignorant of the true workings of Trader Moni and the role of the Vice President in its implementation or perhaps he is on a mischievous mission," the statement read.
Hours after former President Olusegun Obasanjo labelled the Trader Moni scheme spearheaded by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo “idiotic”, the presidency has penned its response.
In a ‘State of the Nation’ broadcast from his Abeokuta base on Sunday, Obasanjo had accused the President Muhammadu Buhari administration of plans to rig the elections, as well as “idiotic” policies such as the Trader Moni scheme. [story_link align="left"]66379[/story_link]
However, a statement by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Vice President, noted that Obsanjo’s comments on the scheme is “most unfortunate”, noting that “it is either that the former leader is ignorant of the true workings of Trader Moni and the role of the Vice President in its implementation or perhaps he is on a mischievous mission”.
According to Akande, the former President has demonstrated “a surprising but complete misunderstanding of the workings of the TraderMoni, that is if we assume there is no mischief intended”.
The statement continued: “Firstly, the Vice President does not personally distribute money during his visits to the markets. He goes there to assess progress of the implementation and to create awareness for a programme designed to meet the financing need of 2 million petty traders across the country in the first instance.
“Secondly, while one will not bother to further address the issue of timing of the implementation since such issues are now known to be political posturing, it is important to note that Trader Moni is being actively implemented across all states of the federation and the FCT. It is not only Lagos and Abuja as was insinuated.
“These petty traders at the bottom of the economic ladder, with an inventory often less than N5,000, are beneficiaries of the Trader Moni scheme which provides N10,000 collateral/interest-free loans to them, an empowerment that improves their small businesses, their families while also contributing significantly to the economy.
“Thirdly, in what is certainly a curious comment, the former President has also been quoted as describing the TraderMoni scheme as idiotic. To label such people-friendly scheme as idiotic, is not only an absurdity, it is also an affront to the sensibilities of these hard working Nigerians, the beneficiaries of the micro credit scheme.”
According to Akande, the Bank of Industry implements the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), one part of the Nigerian government’s Social Investment Programme and “enumeration agents have been engaged to visit the markets and other points where petty traders are found to confirm that they are traders and also take their biometric information for recording purposes”.
"After the enumeration the N10,000 collateral free loans are then disbursed electronically through the petty traders’ phones,” he added.
He highlighted the benefits participants have gained from the scheme and also emphasised that registration for the scheme does not require the possession of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
“Let me therefore state again that beneficiaries of TraderMoni are not required to show their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) or any document indicating their political affiliations to qualify for the loans. This is why the enumeration is done in the open markets and wherever the traders ply their trade. This issue has been addressed several times by the Presidency in the public space. Therefore the former president’s alleged comments smirks of outright mischief as it regurgitates blatant falsehood.
“Equally, if the former president had conducted a simple act of diligence, he would have found that the National Assembly had approved this programmes and budgeted for them duly. Being a former president, Chief Obasanjo ordinarily should appreciate the impact of such far reaching social investment schemes, which has provided what is now the largest social safety net for millions of Nigerians, and is unprecedented in the nation’s history.
“Again, the former president’s attack on Trader Moni and the person of the Vice President is an indicator that he may be wittingly or unwittingly playing to the sinister script of the opposition party to spread falsehood and attack the social investment programmes of the Buhari administration which champions such impactful schemes, and which is now attracting the praise and commendation of Nigerians everywhere.
“It is pertinent to state that the false allegations against Trader Moni raised again by the former president are sadly a rehash of baseless claims previously made by leading chieftains of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, whose record of profligacy, corruption and mismanagement clearly shows it has no agenda to uplift the common man or improve the lives of Nigerians.
“Finally, attacks such as this on a scheme that benefits the masses of our people is a direct attack on the people and this kind of conduct does not reflect very well on a former president, but is only self-denigrating and of no public value. As is already now obvious, the generality of the Nigerian people will not only reject that attack, but will also condemn its source. We therefore urge the former president to be far more circumspect and more public-spirited in his utterances going forward.”