President Bola Tinubu has suspended all administered programmes by the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Director of Information, Segun Imohiosen on behalf of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The suspension was following the ongoing investigation of alleged malfeasance in the management of the agency and its programmes.
Recall that the National Coordinator of NSIPA, Halima Shehu was sacked by Tinubu for allegedly embezzling N44 billion ($48 million; £38 million) from the government’s account in five days between the 27th and 31st of December 2023. She has since been replaced by Akindele Egbuwalo.
However, the statement said, all four (4) Programmes administered by NSIPA, viz; N- Power Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, and Home Grown School Feeding Programme (the “Programs”) have been suspended for a period of six (6) weeks in the first instance.
It said, President Bola Tinubu has also raised significant concerns regarding operational lapses and improprieties surrounding payments to the Programs’ beneficiaries. He has therefore constituted a ministerial panel to conduct a thorough review of the Agency’s operations with a view to recommending necessary reforms of the NSIPA.
The statement said, “during the period of this suspension, all NSIPA-related activities, including but not limited to all distributions, events, payments, collaborations, and registrations are now frozen.
“The President wishes to assure the stakeholders and all Nigerians that his administration remains committed to a swift and unbiased process that will ensure that, going forward, social intervention programmes will work exactly as intended, to the benefit of the most vulnerable Nigerians”, it said.
