The President Muhammadu Buhari government has vowed to
overhaul the National Social Investment Programmes, NSIPs.
This was contained in a statement on Sunday by
Rhoda Ishaku Iliya, Assistant Director (Information) in the Ministry of
Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
The statement said that the Ministry had begun the process
of rigorous overhauling of N-Power and other social investment programmes to
ensure maximum transparency, greater efficiency and more prudent application of
resources.
It said the process of overhauling the programmes will
involve observing and enforcing due diligence in the National Social Investment
Programmes (NSIPs) processes to ensure full compliance with extant regulations
and best practices in public sector financial transactions.
The statement added that to that effect, all present
processes, especially beneficiary enrolment and payments, including for
consultancies are being scrutinized and stakeholders are being consulted for
inputs that will lead to the total overhaul of the programmes in order to
achieve the purposes for which they were established.
“Similarly, the Ministry will place all transactions under
the microscope to ensure that the massive resources which the present
Administration is channeling to place in the hands of the most vulnerable
groups in the country reach them instead of ending in the pockets of middle men
or double-dealers, who while receiving payments from the specific programmes
also take up other paid jobs,” the statement added.
The Ministry said it was working to ensure that the
beneficiaries of all NSIPs designed to be exited after specified periods will
be prepared and exited through the best of the options presently under
consideration by the government.
“It is hereby emphasised that the Ministry is determined to
give maximum effect to the laudable decision of government to institutionalize
the NSIPs, the implementation of which is costing the government billions of
Naira annually.
“The Ministry acknowledges that this effort to overhaul the
programmes may temporarily slow down the tempo of implementation and will
certainly not go down well with vested interests sure to be frustrated with the
new direction, and who may therefore resort to the use of traditional and new
media as well as misdirected public advocacy to distract government and derail
the process.
“The Ministry is therefore appealing for maximum
understanding and cooperation of all stakeholders and appeals to any
misinformed members of the public to desist from actions that may distract the
Ministry from discharging this important national mandate or even delay the
implementation of these life-changing programmes.
“The Ministry and its agencies will continue to render
services to Nigerians in humanitarian situations effectively, deliver relief to
those affected by disasters, evolve and implement policies that drive social
development and facilitate economic inclusion for the benefit of the most
vulnerable in the country especially through the N-Power, Government Enterprise
and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Conditional Cash Transfer as well as the
National Home Grown School Feeding Programme and other programmes rolled out by
the present administration,” it said.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com