The presidency has said Trader Moni, a scheme to provide small funds for petty traders in Nigeria, is still on, and would reach 10 million petty traders in the country.

Laolu Akande, a senior special assistant to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, made this disclosure late Wednesday, saying the government has continued giving the loans since the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the elections.

The presidency and the APC have been accused of buying votes under the guise of Trader Moni, and since winning the election, the scheme had been suspended.

But Akande said this is not the case, stating that 30,000 new traders have benefitted from the funds since the conclusion of the election.

“Trader Moni, the interest/collateral free N10,000 loans for petty traders is on course. Ignore reports to the contrary,” Akande said.

“In fact since after the elections, about 30,000 new loans have been given across ten states. Also since traders have started repaying, N15,000 disbursements have also commenced to petty traders in Lagos, Borno, Ogun & Oyo States.

“Recall that with Trader Moni once the initial N10,000 is repaid, the trader gets another N15,000, and then N20,000 up until about N100,000 loan.

“The Buhari administration is committed to this scheme and in the Next Level Implementation ten million Nigerian petty traders would benefit, i.e. a significant increase from the initially planned two million beneficiaries. And this is for all the 36 States and the FCT.”

The vice-president, who took the scheme to major markets across the nation before the elections, has since stopped the nationwide travel since the conclusion of the elections.

Trader Moni is an Empowerment Scheme of the Federal Government created specifically for petty traders and artisans across Nigeria.