Juliet Buna
To mitigate the current economic hardship, the Federal Government of Nigeria launched the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme (PCGS) as part of the Presidential Palliative Programme.
This initiative aims to empower nano businesses by providing each beneficiary with a grant of ₦50,000 with funds deposited directly into their accounts. Registration for this grant officially closed on December 18, 2023.
Recently, a message has been circulating on Facebook and WhatsApp claiming that the Federal Government’s ₦50,000 Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme (Batch B) portal is now open for Nigerian youths who have not yet received their payments. These messages include links asking recipients to provide personal details such as names, account numbers, and BVN (Bank Verification Numbers) to qualify for the Batch B grant.
Given the rising economic problems youths face, N-VA decided to verify the authenticity of the circulating message.
VERIFICATION
N-VA investigated the authenticity of the circulating message on Facebook and discovered that the website prompts users to provide personal information, including name, email, phone number, and state. Users are asked to “validate” their bank account number on the second page.
“Your Application for the ongoing FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ₦50,000 CASH GRANT (Batch B) is now in process. Kindly validate your details to proceed to the next step. Note!!! The Number of Applicants is limited.”
Despite entering random numbers and selecting a random bank name—numbers exceeding the actual bank account figures—N-VA could proceed to the next stage. The website then instructed users to share the link with five groups or 15 friends on WhatsApp to receive the grant money.
After completing this task, users are greeted with a message: “Congratulations, 5363748484، Congratulations You are qualified for the ₦50,000 FG CASH GRANT. How to proceed: 1. Share it with 5 groups or 15 friends on WhatsApp (Click on the “SHARE” icon below). 2. You will be automatically redirected to our “PAYMENT FORM” page after filling in the GREEN verification bar. 3. You will receive a confirmation Email Within 24hours After Successful Application.”
The website link encourages users to “apply now” and share it widely, perpetuating the scam.
N-VA further clicked the WhatsApp link and was warned to stay off the site, confirming that it was a trick to scam users.
To further verify the authenticity of the URL provided in the claim, N-VA used website analytical tools such as Spyonweb and Whois. The analysis revealed that the portal was created via Namecheap in Pennsylvania on August 9, 2023.
Furthermore, the URL, https://fg-50k-lastphase.ibomair.online/ does not represent any formal domain name of the Federal Government, it however has “Ibom Air” (an airline) as part of the URL characters, indicating its fraudulent nature.
Analysis of Whois reveals that the status of the site is prohibited.
Screenshots from Whois analysis.
Screenshot from SpyOnWeb
The government portal for the nano business grant application can be found here: https://www.fedgrantandloan.gov.ng/ with the domain name .gov.ng, pointing to the government of Nigeria.
N-VA also observed the misspelling of “Detal instead of Detail” and the wrong use of the preposition “on” instead of “in.”
“Your Application for the ongoing FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ₦50,000 CASH GRANT (Batch B) Is now on process, Kindly Validate Your detal to proceed to the next step. Note!!! The Number Of Applicants is limited.”
Is there going to be a Batch B for the grants?
The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment announced that the N50,000 grant programme for nano businesses covering one million applicants across the country is still in progress, noting that it will be completed by the end of May.
According to a news report by Nairametrics, the Minister in charge of the programme, Doris Uzoka-Anite, noted that application for the scheme has ended and all remaining applicants will receive alerts between now and the end of May.
She said, “Many have already received their grants. Thank you for your patience. For those waiting please hold tight. The disbursement is ongoing in batches and not yet completed. All remaining successful applicants will receive their alerts between now and the end of May. No further action is needed on your part for now. The application portal was closed at midnight on April 17, 2024. The disbursement is currently in progress and processed in batches. It is expected to be completed by the end of May 2024.
“For those who missed out on the nanobusiness grant, you may be eligible for a single-digit interest loan. Applications are still ongoing at fedgrantandloan.gov.ng,” she said.
The federal government has yet to announce that batch B of the scheme will be available, and the registration portal is closed.
CONCLUSION
The claim that the Federal Government’s ₦50,000 Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme (BATCH B) portal is open for Nigerian youth to receive their payment is FALSE.
The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame KariKari Fellowship, in partnership with Crest 91.1FM, Ibadan, and News Verifier Africa, to enrich the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.
