‘$1B annual social investment programme biggest fraud in Africa’

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on Friday, described as single biggest fraud in Africa, the $1billion annual allocation for the National Social Investment Programme of the Federal Government.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said it is unfortunate that the programme started by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016 has been a conduit for siphoning billions of taxpayers’ funds.

HURIWA said it was glaring even to the unsound minds that it is impracticable that government is spending so much money on the poor but the population of the poor keeps doubling since 2015 to a toxic extent that Nigeria became the poverty capital of the world in 2018, overtaking India with approximately 90 million absolutely poor families.

HURIWA dismissed the involvement of some handpicked and well paid non governmental organisations to monitor the activities of the office of the honorable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management in the execution of the Social welfare initiative of Buhari’s administration.

HURIWA wondered how a set of nongovernmental bodies hired as contractors would be independent and objective.

The group demands a comprehensive audit of the programme since its inception and challenged the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, to publish a detailed account of the ministry since she took over office and also publish the list of beneficiaries from inception.

HURIWA said such account should contain names of all the vendors working for the government on the project, their addresses, owners, and other important verifiable details.

Recall that the Minister, through the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Nasir Gwarzoh, recently said $1b was being earmarked annually for Social Investment Programme.

“NSIP is one of the largest social protection programmes in Africa, with over $1billion earmarked annually to cause positive change in the lives of the poorest and the most vulnerable in the country. Let me use this opportunity to inform us that over 12 million households had benefitted from NSIP interventions in the last five years.”

Reacting, HURIWA said: “The National Social Investment Programme, which include the School-Feeding Programme, is the perhaps, the biggest fraud scheme in the whole of Africa. This is the most significant governmental fraud to have ever been activated in Africa because apart from being opaque, it is also characterised by absolutely falsehoods, especially in the so-called school-feeding programme whereby pupils are fed with poor foods.

“The poorly made foods given to school pupils is distasteful despite the humongous amount been spent. The last time Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo tasted the food; his face spoke another language that showed his displeasure. HURIWA make bold to ask if any government official’s child is a pupil in the schools where such foods are being served?

“We remembered that even governor Nasir El-Rufai’s son that was comically enlisted in a public school in Kaduna was almost immediately withdrawn before he could partake in the eating of the food that can at be described as poisonous chalice.”