Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment Programme, Maryam Uwais, has fired back at the leadership of the National Assembly which criticised the conditional cash transfer scheme of the Federal Government.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, had on Tuesday faulted the implementation of the Social Investement Programme (SIP).
The National Assembly leaders met with the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, in Abuja on Tuesday and called for an overhaul of the programme.
The lawmakers said they were unsure if proper parameters were being used to implement the programme.
However, Mrs Uwais said in a statement on Wednesday that some of their assertions were false.
She said the claim that the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) had taken more than N2 trillion since its inception was untrue.
“Although the total appropriation by the National Assembly (NASS) from inception for the 4 NSIPs is N1.7 trillion, the actual funds released for the NSIPs between January 2016 and October 2019 (when the NSIPs were handed over to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development), amounted to N619.1 billion, constituting 36.4% of the total appropriation from the NASS,” she said.
Uwais also said that beneficiaries of the scheme do not need to apply online with their Bank Verification Number (BVN) for payment as claimed by the lawmakers.
“That as part of the conditions for poor and vulnerable beneficiaries to be engaged, they are made to apply online, through the internet and they require a BVN for payment. UNTRUE,” she said.
“The utilization of the BVN for N-Power beneficiary payment is also as a means of identity (since the NIN number can be generated from the BVN) and to facilitate the tracking of payments and further ensure accountability.”
She further said: “The Leadership of the Senate also stated that the NSIP information was not accessible to the National Assembly. UNTRUE.
“The monthly reports of 3,000 N-Power monitors, spread across the 774 LGAs, are available to both Poverty Alleviation Committees of the NASS. It should also be noted that the accounting and procurement aspects of the NSIPs were handled by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning on behalf of the NSIO, and not the OVP.
“It was further asserted, apparently, that because the beneficiaries are not known personally to the NASS members, the National Social Register is a ‘scam’ and needs to be reformed through a process that is ‘more inclusive’ of the NASS. REGRETTABLE & DANGEROUS.”
