The presidency has dismissed claims by the leadership of the National Assembly that the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIPs) of the federal government has gulped N2 trillion so far.

The presidency also disagreed with the lawmakers, arguing that the programmes have not failed.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments, Mrs. Maryam Uwais, titled: “Lawan, Gbajabiamila Got It Wrong,” rejected the claims of Lawan, and Gbajabiamila, saying they were deliberately conceived to undermine the effectiveness of the programme under the supervision of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the past.

According to Uwais, a prompt reaction has become compelling because of “the gravity and implications of the narrative conveyed, as well as the caliber of persons involved.”

She dismissed claims that NSIPs had gulped N2 trillion since 2016, saying on the contrary, the total amount appropriated by the National Assembly for the programme since inception was N1.7 trillion, explaining that it was not only that the total appropriation was less than the figure claimed by the two leaders but also that the highest release so far was 57.8 per cent in one fiscal year.

Uwais said: “While the total appropriation by the National Assembly (NASS) from inception, for the four NSIPs, is N1.7 trillion, the actual funds released for the NSIPs between January 2016 and October 2019 (when the NSIPs were handed over to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development), amounted to N619.1 billion, constituting 36.4 per cent of the total appropriation from the NASS.

“Also, the monies released for NSIPs can be further broken down into 14.03 per cent (2016); 35 per cent in 2017; 43.5 per cent in 2018 and 57.8 per cent (as at September 2019) of the N500 billion in 2016 and N400 billion appropriated for the subsequent years. It should be noted that for 2017 to 2020, a sum of N100 billion was appropriated specifically for the National Housing Fund hosted by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

“These releases covered operational activities and payments to 13,363,680 beneficiaries across all the four NSIPs, all of whom can all be verified either through their BVN numbers or their unique numbers generated by the National Social Register, those identities having been generated for the poorest of the poor who do not own bank accounts for sundry reasons.

“As at September 2019, the funds had expended as follows: On the: Job Creation programme (549,500 N-Power graduates and non-graduates and seven Technology Hubs); National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (in 33 states, 9,963,762 pupils to 107,862 cooks in 54,952 primary schools); the National Cash Transfer Programme (including the development of the National Social Register by the National Social Safety Net Coordination Office) 1,491,296 poor and vulnerable households comprising 6,056,872 individuals in 33 states and 620,947 cash transfer beneficiaries; and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (managed by the Bank of Industry); a total of 2,279,380 TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni beneficiaries.

“In addition, it is false to claim that poor and vulnerable beneficiaries of NSIPs are made to apply online, through the internet and they require a BVN for payment.

“It is only in respect of the N-Power Job Creation programme that applications are made online after which successful volunteers are selected through a transparent process. Indeed, all the 774 local government areas nationwide currently have N-Power beneficiaries serving in different capacities.

“The utilisation of the BVN for N-Power beneficiary payment is also as a means of identity (since the NIN number can be generated from the BVN) and to facilitate the tracking of payments and further ensure accountability,” she said.
The statement also explained the circumstances surrounding the disbursement of the national cash transfer programme, saying names of beneficiaries were drawn from a national social register which she said emanated from the ministries of planning from every state of the federation.

On the selection of beneficiaries of the scheme, she said:
“The process involves a poverty mapping of the local government areas in each state, community mobilisation, targeting, and identification supported by trained enumerators at state and local government levels, after which each of the households identified by the communities is visited and data collated.

“As of March 31st, 2020, the NSR comprised 11,045,537 individuals from 2,644,495 households, collated from 35 states, 453 local government areas, 47,698 communities. The identity of beneficiaries can be verified as each has a generated unique number and can be tracked.”