Reps probe alleged politicization of FG social intervention scheme

THE House of Representatives on Wednesday mandated the committees on Poverty Alleviations and Finance to investigate alleged politicisation of the social intervention schemes of the Federal government.

The committees among other things would intrerface with ministries of finance, budget, and nationalist planning, the Vice President’s office states coordinators and all stakeholders to ascertain the method of identification and selection of targeted vulnerable Nigerians.

The House resolution followed adoption of a motion moved by Hon Mark Gbillah who lamented the lack of involvements of all the critical stakeholders in the execution of the scheme.

Moving the motion, Hon Gbillah said that, there was need to protect the interests of all Nigerian citizens regardless of party affiliation and to ensure equitable participation of all Nigerians in the social intervention schemes of the federal government.

According to him, “the federal government has completely ceded the identification and selection process for these programs to the states to be superintended by coordinators appointed by state governments without the oversight or involvement of the federal institutions who conceptualized and approved the appropriation of funds for the schemes except for the approval of payment”.

To this end, he said the ceding of these responsibilities solely to the states has allegedly resulted in the nomination of beneficiaries who are genuinely in need of this intervention.

The scheme he said included the home grown school feeding program where local vendors would be selected to prepare required meals for about 5.5 million primary 1 to primary 3 school pupils in all the states.

He also said that, the scheme include the N-power programme, the conditional cash transfer for eligible Nigerians.

The motion scaled through when it was put to vote by the Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara.