RE: Humanitarian Affairs Minister Refuses To Approve School Feeding Program Payment For Lagos, Imo, Kogi, Benue

Our attention has been drawn to an Exclusive Story reported by Sahara
Reporters written on the 25th of December, 2019 on the alleged failure of the Hon. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs to approve payments for school feeding in some states and Npower Stipends for October,/November 2019.

It is pertinent to note that this story is utterly false and misleading!

Since the Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiyya Farouq, assumed office, she has gone about handling the transition of the affairs of the Social Investment Programmes from the Presidency to the new Ministry, with the support of the programme administrators and the Cluster Heads.

During this period, she has had to receive briefings from the NSIO and the
different clusters concerning the implementation and status of the programmes, successes and challenges. Where she needs additional information, she has sought further clarification in a bit to ensure that the implementation process fulfills the intended mandates of the SIPs.

It should be noted that the former accounting Ministry, which is the ministry of Budget and National Planning has to put on hold all processes of payments after the presidential instruction of the movement of the SIP. Hence, the necessary civil service procedures that needs to be set up in the new ministry and the briefings delayed payments for a bit.

However all issues and briefings and procedures has been resolved and payment has continued unhindered.

Regarding the delay in the stipends of N-Power volunteers for two months
(October and November), the Hounourable Minister, in a Press Conference on the 2nd of December 2019 explained the reason behind the delay, and also pledged that beneficiaries would receive their backlog payments on or before December 20th, 2019. This was done.

These actions clearly indicate that, contrary to what some media houses are putting out, the Honourable Minister is not acting in any inimical manner
toward the Programme. She has cleared all request that have to do with
payments of vendors and stipends that has reached her table.

The Honorable Minister and the National Social Investments Programme are
focused towards using the SIPs as an impactful tool towards actualizing the
President’s mandate to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

Barr. Ismaeel Ahmed
SSA-P
Social Investments Programme