By Danladi Ahmed
The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has hailed the formal commencement of the Consumer Credit Scheme of the Tinubu administration, saying it is another great campaign promise kept.
It described the first set of beneficiaries as history makers following the disbursement of N3.5bn to 10, 942 Nigerians within the first few days of the take-off of the scheme across the country.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG noted that the scheme is historic, thereby making President Tinubu the very first among other predecessors to embark on this kind of social service.
it said: “What began as a campaign pledge in his 80-page policy document tagged Renewed Hope Agenda is now fully manifesting in the lives of 10,942 Nigerians who are the first set of beneficiaries of a never-before-seen initiative in this part of the world.
“The Consumer Credit Scheme was indeed one of the campaign promises of the then Candidate Bola Tinubu but today it can formally be listed on the checklist of what the President has achieved within his first 18 months in office.
“For the avoidance of doubt, this is an initiative that President Tinubu was known to have publicly spoken about as far back as 2016 at the Bola Tinubu Colloquium so we are not surprised that he moved swiftly to entrench consumer credit in the country by putting the necessary structures in place.
“Today, the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation CreditCorp is active. The first phase targeted at civil servants is up and running with over 10,000 individuals,who are mostly teachers and doctors as initial beneficiaries.
“The breakdown of beneficiaries includes 4,786 federal and state teachers, 2,831 administrators from federal and state MDAs, 1,307 government medical doctors, 1,264 staff of Police and paramilitary institutions, and 753 judicial workers.
“What we find interesting is the focus on urgent household needs, with participating financial institutions offering loans specifically for solar panels, compressed natural gas (CNG), electric vehicles, and transformative solutions reducing reliance on expensive petrol.
“This, for us, is truly representative of recent assurances from the CREDITCORP which insisted that attention would be on ‘responsible credit use as a pathway to a better life, while also re-orienting financial institutions on more effective consumer credit underwriting as a driver of growth.
“What the Tinubu administration is doing with the Consumer Credit Scheme is proof that the country can have a system in place where every Nigerian who earns a modest income could acquire things that could improve their lives and pay for them over a long period.
“And now that disbursement to civil servants has started, we look forward to when the agency begins to bring on board people in the private sector in continuation of efforts to reach its target of 80 million Nigerians who are economically active and earning a living.
“The good thing is that interest rates on loans under the scheme range from 4% monthly to 22% annually compared to the subsisting rate of 10% monthly to 110% annually by digital lending platforms.”
TMSG urges the beneficiaries to ensure that they keep to terms of the scheme in order to ensure that more Nigerians benefit from it.
