The Federal Government has allocated a whopping sum of N46.2 billion for a three-month Special Public Works programme in the rural areas, domiciled in the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) for implementation.
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, who disclosed this, on Thursday, stated that political office holders; such as the governors, ministers, senators and House of Representatives members, will be allotted 10 per cent of the total number of beneficiaries in each of the local government.
He disclosed the government has allocated N42.6b to be used for the Special Public Works programme adding that the programme would commence on October 1st 2020.
Keyamo, who is also the supervising minister of the Special Public Works (SPW) programme, said: “774 multiplied by 1,000 and then by N20,000 that is N46.2 billion. So the government has allocated N46.2 billion to be used for the payment of the beneficiaries.”
But the minister said the committee would not include political office holders in the interest of the NDE program in order to guard it against being hijacked.
Keyamo had earlier threatened to resign from office should politicians hijack the programme from reaching the most vulnerable and poor Nigerians at the grass-root level.
The programme targets 1, 000 persons across the 774 local government in the country where they would be paid a monthly stipend of N20, 000 for a period of three months.
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He noted that the State Selection Committees would be instructed to allocate to political office holders like the distinguished Senators, Members, Ministers and Governors, ”a number in total not exceeding ten per cent of the total beneficiaries in that State.”
Keyamo added that a website would be developed where information such as composition and contact of the Selection Committees, a list of the selected beneficiaries and chosen projects would be displayed for the public.
In his closing remarks, the chairman of Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Extended Special Public Works Program, National Directorate of Employment Director-General, Dr Nasir Mohammed Ladan Argungu, said they have given the beneficiaries in the piloting states their stipends, adding, “we have given them their dues 100%.”
He, however, noted that only two states are yet to commence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pilot program commenced in Borno, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Katsina, Kwara, Edo with the exception of Jigawa and Adamawa state.