FG Payroll Support: Osinbajo’s Aide sets up Free Registration Centers For Cross River Applicants

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By Kelvin Obambon

Following the extension of registration for Survival Fund Payroll Support programme by the Federal Government, the Technical Assistant to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on New Media, Mr Philip Obin, has set up registration centers in Calabar the Cross River State capital to help register prospective applicants for the scheme.

Services at the centers are rendered free of charge to all businesses in the state that wish to partake in the programme.

The Project Delivery Office, MSMEs Survival Fund and Guaranteed Off-Take Schemes, last week announced the reopening of portal for 7 days to enable some states fill their quota in the Survival Fund Payroll Support programme, which is one of the components in the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP), developed by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo-led committee that was set up in the wake of COVID-19, to fashion out actionable approaches in cushioning the effects of the pandemic on the social and economic life of Nigerians.

The portal which opened on Wednesday 27th January, will close on Tuesday 2nd February, 2021.

Consequently, Cross River is eligible for the second phase of registration; and in order to encourage more indigenous businesses to take advantage of the window, Mr Obin opened two registration centers located at Freemans Hotel and Marian Hotel, all in Calabar, where applicants can go and have their companies and employees registered at no cost.

Showing the level of activities at the centers, Obin in a video circulated on social media, said: “Here’s one of the two registration centers I have created and engaged over 100 young Cross Riverians to help businesses based in Cross River State with processing of registration for the FG Payroll Support, after I discovered that a lot of businesses in the state were finding it difficult to enroll or do not know how to go about it.

“With over a thousand organisations already captured, I am optimistic that at least 10,000 more Cross Riverians will benefit from the scheme, where government is paying N30,000 or N50,000 per employee for a period of 3 months.”

Photos from one of the registration centers in Calabar

This, undoubtedly, is one of the several ways the Cross River federal appointee has been facilitating and bringing down to the state, numerous social and economic intervention programmes of the national government.

The Payroll Support cuts across all sectors, including education, hospitality and general sector.

The Scheme provides for 45 per cent female participation and 5 per cent for Special Needs participation, respectively.

The programme which was flagged off on the 21st of September 2020, is specifically aimed at supporting vulnerable MSMEs in the payroll obligations of over 500,000 employees for a period of 3 months.

As of 8 December, 2020, a total of 238,868 individuals have so far benefited from the Payroll Support Programme.