The “Payment Service Providers” were contracted by the Federal Government to make payments to vulnerable persons in Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Abia and Zamfara States.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, in a statement signed on Tuesday, said the project was called off after a breach of the agreement by the contractors.

According to the statement, “The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, has directed the immediate termination of the contract of two Payment Service Providers (PSPs) for failure to meet the contractual agreement to commence Conditional Cash Transfer to beneficiaries in four states of the federation assigned to the two PSPs.

“The affected states are Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom in the South-South; Abia in the South East and Zamfara, in the North West.

“The immediate termination of the contract would be with the guidance of the World Bank, and a new procurement process launched using World Bank procurement guidelines to ensure that payment commences in the affected states on or before April 28, 2020.”

“The failure of any payment service provider to meet their contractual agreement is unacceptable.

“The Federal Government through the Ministry cannot allow contractors to derail the immediate Conditional cash transfers to the poor and the vulnerable.”