Betta Edu saga: FG hints at resumption of social investment programmes — 3 months after suspension

The federal government has disclosed plans to resume the intervention schemes coordinated by the national social investment programme agency (NSIPA).

Mohammed Idris, the minister of information and national orientation, spoke on Saturday during an interview programme on Radio Nigeria in Kaduna.

The minister did not state when the programmes will recommence.

On January 12, President Bola Tinubu suspended all programmes administered by NSIPA for six weeks, as part of a probe of alleged malfeasance in the management of the agency and its programmes.

Tinubu, had on January 2, suspended Halima Shehu as the chief executive officer (CEO) of NSIPA over alleged financial malfeasance.

The president also suspended Betta Edu as minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation on January 8. Edu’s ministry supervises the operations of the NSIPA.

The programmes affected include the N-Power, the conditional cash transfer (CCT), the government enterprise and empowerment programme, and the home-grown school feeding initiative.

On March 13, the house of representatives asked the federal government to resume the implementation of the suspended social investment initiatives.

Speaking during the interview, Idris said the committee set up by Tinubu to review the operational mechanism of the national social investment programme has submitted its report to pave the way for the resumption of the programmes.

According to the minister, 15 million vulnerable households will receive N25,000 conditional cash transfers for three months among other interventions.

FG TO REINVEST SAVINGS FROM ELECTRICITY SUBSIDY REMOVAL IN POWER SECTOR

On the partial removal of the electricity subsidy, Idris said the N1 trillion expected to be saved from the policy will be reinvested in improving power supply and the provision of social services.

He said the disproportionate amount of electricity subsidy (approximately 40 percent) benefits only about 15 percent of the consumers, comprising affluent individuals and industrial clusters, who enjoy about 20 hours of power supply.

“It is essential to emphasize that the funds to be saved from the withdrawal of electricity subsidy will be reinvested in enhancing power supply across the country and improving other vital social services such as health and education,” the minister said.

Idris said  85 percent of the population under the different categorisations of the new electricity supply regime still enjoy the subsidy.

He said the new Electricity Act, signed by Tinubu, has strengthened the governance structure of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The Act, he said, also empowers NERC to severely sanction electricity distribution companies (DisCos) for infractions relating to billings and power supply.

Commenting on the post-petrol subsidy intervention programmes, Idris said the federal government’s plan to invest N100 billion in the procurement of compressed natural gas (CNG) buses is still on track, noting that the specifications of the vehicles are “not bought off the shelf”.

He said the government would soon launch conversion centres across the country to encourage Nigerians to convert their vehicles from fuel to CNG to cut transportation costs.

FG’S AGRICULTURAL INTERVENTIONS

Speaking on the ongoing agricultural programmes, the minister said the federal government has expanded the cultivation of wheat, rice, cassava, and maize on about 500,000 hectares of farmland under its dry season farming initiative.

“The President has mandated us to go out and feel the pulse of the nation and report back to him,” Idris said.

“We were in Dutse, Auyo, and Hadejia and interacted with the farmers about the successes of the dry season farming in those areas.”

Idris said Kebbi state is now a hub of tomato farming and processing in the country through collaboration with a leading food processing firm, GB Foods, which has “set up a sprawling factory for the production of tomato paste”.

He said many farmers, mostly women, are now involved in tomato farming in the state because of the enabling environment and support from the off-taker, GB Foods, which has shown a remarkable commitment to doing business in Nigeria.