Victor EzejaMinister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Wale Edun, has been appointed to lead the Special Presidential Panel on Social Investment Programmes set up by President Bola Tinubu to probe the programmes.
This was announced in a statement released by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Ajuri Ngelale.
Barely 24 hours after suspending four programmes under the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA), President Tinubu set up a panel to probe activities in the agency which is under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
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Tinubu ordered suspension of four social investment programmes such as N-Power, Conditional Cash Transfer, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), and Home Grown School Feeding Programme, administered by NSIPA, for six weeks following reports of alleged mismanagement and siphoning of funds meant for the programmes and entire Humanitarian Affairs Ministry.
Highlighting the urgency and importance of the task, Ajuri stated: “This Special Presidential Panel is tasked with immediately undertaking a comprehensive review and audit of existing financial frameworks and policy guidelines of the social investment programmes with a view to implementing a total re-engineering of the financial architecture of the programmes with detailed modification to procedures guiding the programmes’ implementation moving forward.”
The statement said the Special Presidential Panel comprises ministers representing strategic sectors, adding that and they would “ensure a multi-disciplinary approach to the reform effort.”
The panel members, according to the statement are:
(1) Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance – Chairman
(2) Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare – Member
(3) Honourable Minister of Budget and Economic Planning – Member
(4) Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation – Member
(5) Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy – Member
(6) Honourable Minister of State for Youth – Member
“President Tinubu anticipates that this Special Presidential Panel will validate the confidence reposed in it by winning back all lost public confidence in these vital programmes over the years by ushering in a new era of operation based on open and accountable governance frameworks that will prove impervious to abuse and incompetence for the exclusive benefit of disadvantaged households across our nation,” Ngelale indicated in a statement released on Saturday.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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