President Bola Tinubu has suspended all social investment programmes administered by the National Social Investment Programme Agency.
Jerrymusa.com reports that the President’s decision was made in light of the “ongoing investigation of alleged malfeasance in the management of the agency and its programmes,” according to a statement released by Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, on Friday.
Social Investment Program Suspended for 4 Weeks
The announcement stated, “In the first instance, all four of the NSIPA’s programmes—the N-Power Programmeme, the Conditional Cash Transfer Programmeme, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programmeme, and the Home Grown School Feeding Programme—have been suspended for a period of six weeks.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has also raised significant concerns regarding operational lapses and improprieties surrounding payments to the programmes’ beneficiaries,I Imohoisen noted.
As stated by In the announcement, Tinubu also established a ministerial team to carry out an exhaustive examination of the agency’s activities and suggest any required NSIPA reforms.
Fraud Investigation Ongoing
All NSIPA-related operations, including but not limited to distributions, events, payments, collaborations, and registrations, are currently suspended during the duration of this suspension.
Since Halima Shehu, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment, was suspended due to the ongoing investigation into N37,170,855,753.44, which was purportedly laundered in the Ministry of Disaster Management, Social Development, and Humanitarian Affairs under the former Federal Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, the activities of NSIPA have been scrutinised.
Both the President and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission suspended Betta Edu, Farouq’s replacement, for ordering that N585 million. Ought to be moved to a personal account held by Oniyelu Bridget, who the ministry stated is the Project Accountant for Grants to Vulnerable Groups at the moment.
The president also mandated a thorough investigation into the incident inside the ministry.