A Facebook page (Sunday Quotes) shared a post that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is giving out a palliative loan of N500,000 to Nigerians.
The author of the post shared a flyer with a picture of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the write-up on the flyer reads “Federal Government Palliative 2024” and it stated that the loan is open to traders, students and the unemployed.
It also stated that the application is free and no BVN was required, just the applicants’ name, phone number and account details with a link attached for interested applicants to apply.
However, the caption reads “N500,000 by CBN to all citizens, submit applications, 2024 palliative loan.”
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The post had garnered over 400 likes, 210 comments with 11 shares.
Unfortunately, most of the comments indicated interest in the loan and asked how they could apply while others thanked the president for the initiative.
We also found similar fraudulent posts on other Facebook pages.
Verification
In a bid to verify the authenticity of the claim, fact-checkers at Daily Trust on Sunday followed the application link and it directed us to a blog that provides updates on US visa sponsorship jobs with a list of companies like Amazon, Infosys, Walmart, Apple, Google and Microsoft.
We also sent a message to the Facebook user but there was no response as at the time of filing this report.
Further checks revealed that the Federal Government had not launched a N500,000 grant in 2024 and results showed that the CBN is not offering any type of loan to Nigerians.
The Central Bank of Nigeria is the body responsible for regulating money and prices, issuing legal currency and promoting a sound financial system in the country.
It also serves as the licensing authority for Nigerian banks and other financial institutions, maintaining external reserves to safeguard the international value of legal tender.
Recently, the CBN through Access Bank disclosed that it had stopped giving out loans and has tasked commercial banks with the responsibility of recovering outstanding loans issued under those programs.
In a circular titled “Suspension of Acceptance of New Applications under the Existing Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Development Finance Intervention Programme.” The CBN disclosed that “Accordingly, the CBN would be moving into more limited policy advisory roles that support economic growth. In consideration of the above, the CBN wishes to inform you that it has stopped accepting new loan applications for processing under any of its existing intervention programs or schemes.”
A manual search carried out on the CBN’s official social media accounts revealed that they have at different points shared posts warning Nigerians not to fall victim to fraudsters.
Some of the posts read “Beware of Fraudulent Loan offers, investment schemes as well as fraudulent messages and videos circulating on social media.”
“People have fallen victim to scams and frauds where they receive calls from fraudsters posing as their bank account managers or staff of the CBN, do not be their next victim. Stay cautious and protect your bank security and information at all times.”
It further asked people not to disclose their BVN, card verification number or any other important information.
Similarly, commercial banks always inform their customers not to disclose important information because the bank will never call or send a message asking for any information.
Conclusion
Based on verifiable information, fact-checkers at Daily Trust can confirm that the claim suggesting that the CBN is giving out a 500,000-naira loan to Nigerians is false and misleading. The author of the post used it as a clickbait to drive traffic to a blog with updates on US visa sponsorship jobs.
This Fact Check is published in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development CDD
