Reps ask Tinubu to unfreeze NSIPA accounts, pay stipends to N-power beneficiaries

The House of Representatives has asked President Bola Tinubu to direct the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to unfreeze the accounts of the Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA) within 72 hours.

The resolution of the House followed a motion moved by the Deputy Speaker, Ben Kalu, and 31 others during Tuesday’s plenary session.

The House further urged the government to ensure the release of funds to NSIPA for the payment of outstanding stipends owed to 395,731 N-Power beneficiaries nationwide without further delay.

It also called on the president to ask the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management to ensure that all administrative bottlenecks hindering the smooth operations of NSIPA programmes are immediately removed.

Background

In January, President Tinubu carried out a major shake-up in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, suspending the former minister, Betta Edu.

Additionally, Halima Shehu was suspended as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NSIPA.

The president also announced that all four programmes administered by NSIPA – the N-Power Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, and Home-Grown School Feeding Programme – were to be suspended for six weeks in the first instance.

A six-person committee, comprising six ministers and led by Mr Edun, was tasked with reviewing the entire sector.

The committee reportedly submitted its report in March, recommending the transfer of NSIPA from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to the Ministry of Finance.

However, the president has yet to make a public pronouncement on the issue. Nonetheless, he has appointed a substantive minister for the ministry and sent a bill to the National Assembly to amend the NSIPA Act.

The Motion

In the motion, Mr Kalu stated that the programmes of NSIPA are vital to the government’s poverty eradication agenda and that their suspension should be reversed.

“Despite the programmes of NSIPA being vital for poverty alleviation, youth empowerment, and economic inclusivity in Nigeria, the agency’s functionality has been hindered due to administrative bottlenecks, insufficient funding, and frozen accounts.

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“The efforts of the government and the laudable programmes of NSIPA were truncated by alleged financial mismanagement by the handlers of the programmes, leading to their suspension, the freezing of the agency’s accounts, and subsequent investigations by anti-corruption and security agencies,” he said.

Members voted in support of the motion when Speaker Abbas Tajudeen put it to a voice vote.

The House also directed the transmission of the motion to the Senate for concurrence.

It’s unclear what the House would do if the resolution is not complied with by the executive within the time frame. Often, lawmakers issue such ultimatum without taking any action.