As parts of moves to ascertain the extent of funding and releases made to implementing Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the House of Representatives Committee on Small and Medium Enterprises has met with the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, on key aspects of the implementation of the presidential palliatives grants and loans.

The committee’s Chairman, Mansur Soro, who led the team to meet with the minister, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists yesterday through his Personal Assistant, Aleeyu Darazo.

Recall that President Bola Tinubu had directed the distribution of palliatives to cushion the effects of the removal of petrol subsidy across the agricultural, transportation, social safety and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sectors of the economy in July 2023.

Subsequently, the House of Representatives mandated its Committee on SME to interface with officials of the government responsible to ensure timely and effective implementation of the palliatives programme. 

The committee had previously met with other officials including the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Doris Anite; the Accountant General of the Federation, Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein and DG/CEO of SMEDAN, Mr. Charles Odii, in this regard. 

The statement said: “The 10th House of Representatives under the leadership of Tajudeen Abass places high premium on SME development, hence its decision to create a standing committee on SME to ensure effective oversight of the SME activities and programmes of line MDAs. 

“The presidential palliative grants and loans, which comes in three tranches of N50,000 grants to one million nano businesses; N100,000 – N1 million and N75 billion to manufacturers are due for disbursement anytime soon.”