Betta Edu: FG to resume social investment programmes soon

Suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu ©(c) provided by Pulse Nigeria

The social investment programmes were suspended following the scandal that rocked the humanitarian ministry, leading to Betta Edu’s suspension.

The Federal Government has indicated that programmes administered under the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) scheme will recommence soon.

This comes three months afterPresident Bola Tinubu suspended all the programmes under NSIPA as part of a probe into alleged malfeasance in the agency’s management and its programmes.

On January 2, 2024, the President suspended Halima Shehu as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NSIPA over alleged financial misappropriation.

Six days later, Tinubu also suspended Betta Edu, whose ministry, the Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, supervised the operations of NSIPA.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and National Orientation,Mohammed Idris, hinted at the imminent return of the social investment programmes.

He disclosed this during an interview programme on Radio Nigeria in Kaduna State on Saturday, April 13, 2024.

The minister said the committee tasked by Tinubu to review the operational mechanism of the national social investment programmes has submitted its report, paving the way for the resumption of the programmes.

According to Idris, 15 million vulnerable households will receive N25,000 conditional cash transfers for three months among other interventions.

The programmes under the scheme include the N-Power, the conditional cash transfer (CCT), the government enterprise and empowerment programme, and the home-grown school feeding initiative.