Reps: Tinubu handed 72-hour ultimatum to unfreeze NSIPA accounts

The House of Representatives on Tuesday tasked President Bola Tinubu to mandate the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun to ensure that all frozen accounts of the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA) are unfrozen within 72 hours.

The resolution was passed sequel to the adoption of a motion sponsored by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, Hon. Babajimi Benson, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere and 18 others, who underscored the need to reactivate the NSIPA accounts with a view to enable the smooth recommencement of all programmes and the release of funds to NSIPA for the payment of outstanding stipends owed to 395,731 N-Power beneficiaries nationwide.

The House also urged the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management to ensure that all the administrative bottlenecks hindering the smooth operations of all programmes of NSIPA are immediately removed; and transmit this resolution to the Senate for concurrence.

In his lead debate, Hon. Kalu noted that NSIPA was established pursuant to the National Social Investment Programme Agency (Establishment) Act, 2023, with the mandate of empowering unemployed persons, vulnerable widows, orphans, children, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable senior citizens, etc.

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He also noted that NSIPA oversees critical social intervention programs such as Grant for Vulnerable Groups, N-Power, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT), and the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP).

He further noted that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Government gives emphasis to the mandate of the NSIPA to cushion the effect of economic shocks on the poor and the vulnerable.

The Deputy Speaker expressed concerns that 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.

He recalled that the effort of the government and the laudable programmes of NSIPA were truncated by alleged financial mismanagement by handlers of the programmes leading to the suspension of programmes and freezing of the agency’s account and subsequent investigation by anti-corruption and security agencies.

He believed that restoring NSIPA’s account aligns with the President’s vision, ensuring that poverty alleviation efforts remain effective, efficient, and impactful, and that it is essential to act swiftly to resolve this issue to maintain momentum toward the administration’s poverty eradication goals;

Hon. Kalu said, “The House is concerned that the smooth operations of the programmes and the fulfillment of the mandate of NSIPA are hindered due to the suspension (freezing) of the accounts of the agency and other administrative bottlenecks, which has remained in force even more than 3 months after the President reconstituted the new management of NSIPA;

“Frozen account contradicts the President’s mandate on poverty alleviation by hindering and halting social welfare programs, including conditional cash transfers, small business grants, and school feeding initiatives; undermining economic empowerment initiatives; delaying in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and causing erosion of public confidence and administrative paralysis in fighting poverty, among other things.

“The House is also worried that as a result of the suspension of accounts of the NSIPA, the N-Power programme has been so negatively affected that 395,731 beneficiaries are owed outstanding stipends to the tune of N81,315,440,000 a fund already captured under the 2023 and 2024 amended Appropriation Acts, which will lapse by the year ending 31st December, 2024.”

 

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE