Betta Edu, suspended minister of humanitarian affairs and
poverty alleviation, received N3 billion of COVID-19 funds for the verification
of the national social register.
In a letter dated September 18, 2023 with reference number
SH/145/A/220, Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff of President Bola Tinubu, told
Edu that her request to obtain N3 billion from the COVID-19 funds had been
approved by the president.
“Please be informed that Mr. President has approved the
expenditure of N3,000,000,000.00 (three billion naira) only, from the Covid-19
Palliative Fund for verification of the National Social Register,” Gbajabiamila
wrote.
“Please accept the assurance of my highest regards.”
The N3 billion was disbursed to nine companies, including
one linked to Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior. The minister said he
resigned from the company in 2019.
Edu’s approval came about two months after the National
Economic Council (NEC), presided by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, dropped the
social register compiled under Muhammadu Buhari, immediate past president, for
lacking credibility.
‘DUMPING’ THE SOCIAL
REGISTER
During the meeting of July 20, NEC resolved that the
implementation of the cash transfer programme for states should be based on
their social registers and a cash reward policy for public servants for six
months.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Chukwuma
Soludo, governor of Anambra, said NEC agreed that states should come up with
their own registers using formal and informal means.
But there was some pushback from citizens and the National
Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO).
There were arguments that so much money had already been
sunk into getting the data in NASSCO’s custody, and that it would be wasteful
to “dump” it.
The coordinating office clarified that the country’s social
register is an aggregation of state registers.
“The national social register is an aggregation of state
registers built by each of the 36 states and the FCT,” NASSCO posted on X on
July 21 following NEC’s decision.
“States build the register using a community-based targeting
approach undertaken by targeting teams and enumerators engaged by states and
overseen by their ministries of planning.
“NASSCO and the NBS Nigeria work collaboratively on a number
of fronts around poverty, most notably on the national living standards survey
(NLSS).”
Here were some complaints on NEC’s decision to discard the
national social register.
COVID-19 FUNDS AND
‘STARVING CITIZENS’
As the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the world in 2020, some
international agencies, corporate organisations, and individuals donated
billions of naira to enhance the federal government’s response to the disease.
In August of the same year, the World Bank approved $114
million for Nigeria that was meant to be shared by the federal capital
territory (FCT) and the 36 states.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also created a N100
billion credit support intervention for the healthcare industry.
These funds were meant to provide food relief items and
boost the healthcare sector.
However, not long after, mobs began looting warehouses in
different parts of the country for COVID-19 relief items, while accusing the
authorities of hoarding them.
In November 2023, the house of representatives issued a
72-hour ultimatum to Oluwatoyin Madein, accountant general of the federation
(AGF), to submit a detailed report on the utilisation of a N100 billion
COVID-19 intervention fund.
Bamidele Salam, chair of the house committee on public
accounts and sponsor of the motion that led to the resolution, said Madein had
refused to comply with an earlier resolution of the lower legislative chamber
to provide details of the expenditure.
“As we speak, that input has not been received from the
office of the accountant general of the federation,” Salam had said.
“That is a very important document that will guide our
proceedings on the investigation the house mandated us to carry out within a
timeframe.”
Nothing has been heard since the ultimatum was given.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
The humanitarian affairs ministry came under intense
scrutiny after a memo wherein Edu had asked Oluwatoyin Madein,
accountant-general of the federation, to transfer N585 million to a private
account, began making the rounds.
A nationwide outrage ensued in the wake of the revelation.
Rasheed Zubair, media aide to Edu, said the leaked memo was
a blackmail tactic after the fraud in NSIPA had been exposed, adding that the
embattled minister’s request followed “due process”.
Thereafter, President Tinubu suspended Edu and ordered the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the finances of the
ministry.
Phone calls and text messages to get Ajuri Ngelale, the
president’s spokesperson, to react to this report were unsuccessful.
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