The Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq has assured the members of the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation of handling the resources of the National Social Investment Programme with transparency and prudence.
She disclosed this during the familiarization visit by the members of the Committee to the Ministry.
According to her “there is an ongoing process of overhauling the N-Power Scheme, National Home Grown School Feeding Programme and other National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP) to ensure maximum transparency, greater efficiency and more prudent application of resources”.
The Minister outlined the responsibility of the Ministry in supervising the National Social Investment Programme which include N-power programmes aimed at driving skill development and job creation for the unemployed youths between the ages of 18 – 35 years. ‘’This programme has Four Hundred and Seventy Three Thousand, One Hundred and Thirty Seven (473, 137) beneficiaries enrolled” she said.
Continuing, “the Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP) commenced in Kwara State, February 2020, and Lagos State from December 2019. The position of the Ministry is to continue the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP) programmee with revolving loans and seek for the approval to continue during this transition to avoid disruption to the beneficiaries”.
The Minister further stated that the National Cash Transfer Programme is designed to deliver timely and accessible cash transfer to beneficiary household and build their capacities for sustainable livelihood to the poor and vulnerable.
Earlier, the Chairman House Committee on Poverty Alleviation, Rt. Hon. Dr Abdullahi Balarabe Salame, said that the familiarization visit is premised on the resolve of the National Assembly to Partner with the executive arm towards ensuring adequate implementation of Government programmes, policies and actions for greater benefits to Nigerians and also the visit would afford them the opportunity to cross fertilize ideas on how best the Ministry can achieve its mandate.
They also asked for a detailed brief on the beneficiaries of all the programmes of NSIP to understudy and see how to support the Ministry.
The Permanent Secretary explained that the delay in the payment of the N-Power in October was due to the transition in the office of the Permanent Secretary and the huge amount expended on the NSIP programme needs to be properly scrutinized before any approval is made, while apologizing for the delay in payment.
Rhoda Ishaku Iliya
Assistant Director Information
2nd March, 2020
