FG spends N1.3trn on school feeding, N-power, others

The federal government on Tuesday said it invested the sum of N1.3 trillion to improve the lives of vulnerable Nigerians through its National Social Investment Programmes in the last seven years, from 2016 to 2022.

These social programmes include N-power, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), National Home-grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), Conditional Cash Transfers and Independent Monitors (IM).

Sadiya Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development informed that N890.7 billion was spent on N-power with N246 billion on CCT, N17.6 billion on GEEP, N2.7 million on IM, while school feeding programme gulped N200.9 billion.

Farouq said this when she featured on the 23rd edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) Administration scorecard series organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture in Abuja.

She stated that the ministry has directly touched the lives of over 15 million individuals and their families. Giving further breakdown, the minister stated that 9.9 million pupils were fed in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); over 3 million youths have benefitted from N-power programme, out of which one million are receiving N30,000 monthly stipend; a total of 185,919 persons are beneficiaries under GEEP; while CCT has paid 1.9 million vulnerable persons N5,000 monthly, and 355,000 persons have received grants of N20,000.

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She also disclosed that there are over 15 million households and over 61 million individuals on the national social register.

According to Farouq, the activities of the ministry has impacted significantly on the lives of vulnerable Nigerians and has reduced poverty prevalence.

“We have impacted lives, people who before could not feed, can now afford to feed themselves and members of their family, people who did not have any form of business to do have been supported with some form of capital for them to be productive members of the society.

When this administration came on board in 2015, the statistics showed that over 75 percent of our populace live below the poverty line, the story is different now, it’s about 45 to 58 percent, so we have made significant progress in this regard,” she said.

In his remarks, the minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed assures Nigerians that the federal government is working assiduously to resolve the new naira and fuel scarcity

“The federal government is mindful of the inconveniences currently being endured by citizens as a result of fuel supply disruptions and the recent redesigning of some Naira notes. Government is working assiduously to restore normalcy to these critical enablers of economic activity and to take added measures, where necessary, to alleviate the pains of Nigerians”, he said.

The minister said the government is willing to take decisive steps to bring succour to Nigerians in the shortest possible time, despite the antics of the opposition.

He described the court induction obtained by opposition parties to stop the government from extending the deadline as clear evidence that the opposition has turned the issue into a political game, preferring to make Nigerians suffer more.

“One thing is sure though: the desperate actions will not save these sinking political parties as voters have already seen that they are the real enemies of the people and not President Muhammadu Buhari or the All Progressives Congress (APC),” he said.