12th January, 2024
By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the suspension of all programmes by implemented by the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) following recent allegations of fraud and other controversies trailing the initiative.
By the suspension, the four programmes being implemented by NSIPA -N- Power Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme and Home Grown School Feeding Programme (the “Programs”) have been put on hold.
The suspension was announced in a statement on Friday by the Director of Information, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Segun Imohiosen.
The statement indicated that the suspension of the programme was due to the “ongoing investigation of alleged malfeasance in the management of the agency and its programmes.”
He added that the suspension will last for six weeks while the President has also set up an inter-ministerial committee to review the programmes given the recent controversies surrounding them.
“All four (4) Programmes administered by NSIPA, viz; N- Power Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme and Home Grown School Feeding Programme (the “Programs”) have been suspended for a period of six weeks in the first instance,” the statement read.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has also raised significant concerns regarding operational lapses and improprieties surrounding payments to the Programs’ beneficiaries.”
According to the statement, Tinubu also constituted a ministerial panel to conduct a thorough review of the agency’s operations to recommend necessary reforms of the NSIPA.
During the period of this suspension, all NSIPA-related activities, including but not limited to all distributions, events, payments, collaborations and registrations are now frozen.
Tinubu also assured stakeholders and all Nigerians that his administration remains committed to a swift and unbiased process that will ensure that, going forward, social intervention programmes will work exactly as intended, to the benefit of the most vulnerable Nigerians.
Tinubu had on January 2 suspended the Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu over allegations of moving funds allocated for implementation of the programmes into private account. She is now being investigated by the EFCC over the alleged diversion of the funds.