FG approves payment for SPW participants

Assures of food sufficiency

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the release of funds for the payment of workers engaged under the Special Public Works (SPW) Programme. Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, confirmed the development in a statement on Saturday.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has graciously directed a release of the funds for the payment of stipends to the 774,000 participants of the SPW programme. I have consequently directed the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to begin processing the payments, and participants will begin to receive payments soon.

“To eliminate fraud, I have also directed that every payment to participants should be made using the Bank Verification Number (BVN) of their accounts, so we can have an audit trail of every single payment. Those who registered with different names shouldn’t expect payments,” he stated.

AMID high cost of foodstuff, the Federal Government has said it is working hard to ensure everyone has more than enough to eat and extra for export.

To achieve this, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, during a media parley at the weekend, stated that the ministry had commenced the implementation of agricultural mechanisation aimed at massive cultivation and output.

He added that the ministry was also deepening extension services to grow the agricultural sector and make farming an informed profession.

“The goal of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is to facilitate economic diversification from an oil-based economy to an agro-based economy,” he stated.