13th January, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a Special Presidential Panel to review and audit existing financial frameworks and policy guidelines of the social investment programme.
This is sequel to Tinubu’s six-week suspension of the four programmes under the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA).
NSIPA is under the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu.
The panel will be led by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Mr. Wale Edun.
A statement issued by presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale said the Panel is tasked with immediately undertaking a comprehensive review and audit of existing financial frameworks and policy guidelines of the social investment programmes with a view to implementing a total re-engineering of the financial architecture of the programmes with detailed modification to procedures guiding the programmes’ implementation moving forward.
The Special Presidential Panel comprises six ministers representing strategic sectors and will ensure a multi-disciplinary approach to the reform effort.
Members of the panels are the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Wale Edu as Chairman; Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, as member; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and Minister of State for Youth.
According to Ngelale, Tinubu anticipated that this Special Presidential Panel would validate the confidence reposed in it by winning back all lost public confidence in these vital programmes over the years by ushering in a new era of operation based on open and accountable governance frameworks that would prove impervious to abuse and incompetence for the exclusive benefit of disadvantaged households across our nation.