774k jobs: ‘Beneficiaries not from moon’ — Keyamo reacts to senate’s probe

Festus Keyamo, minister of state for labour and employment, says the beneficiaries of the 774,000 special public works (SPW) scheme are not people from the moon.

On Wednesday, the senate committee on public account commenced an investigation into the SPW programme after lawmakers argued that nobody from their constituents benefitted.

The committee gave the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) two weeks to submit a comprehensive report of all beneficiaries across the 36 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

The SPW scheme is a federal government intervention programme coordinated by the NDE as part of the efforts to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on citizens.

The programme was targeted at creating jobs for 774,000 Nigerians with a mandate of recruiting 1000 citizens from each LGA across the country.

Reacting to the senate’s decision on Thursday, Keyamo said the NDE will provide all the evidence, reports and processes of the exercise, adding that there was no corruption in the scheme.

“I think they have asked the NDE to produce the register, so, they should wait. Can they conclude before seeing the register? They gave two weeks, the response would be made available to everyone including the press,” he told TheCable.

“The NDE will give every evidence, so, follow it up with the NDE, they are there to give all the reports, all the processes, so follow it up on the committee so we don’t talk outside the committee.

“There was no corruption at all. When you go there, they will make everything available. The people who were chosen are Nigerians too, they’re not from moon, and they are not from Cameroon. So, it will be made available to everybody, so just follow it up from there. The NDE is in charge, they will include every evidence and all the documents.”

The minister added that the SPW programme has achieved all its set goals.

Keyamo had in May 2020 said about 10 percent of the federal government’s 774,000 temporary employment slots will be allocated to political office holders in the country.

On June 30, 2020, the minister, after an argument with the lawmakers, said they were trying to blackmail him and hijack the SPW exercise.

TheCable, in 2021, published a report on how some beneficiaries of the scheme in parts of Sokoto, Kebbi, Oyo, Osun, Kwara and Niger states got paid despite doing nothing.