Tinubu urges N’Assembly to amend social investment law for transparency

President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, asked the National Assembly to amend the National Social Investment Programmes Agency Act 2023 to ensure transparency.

The President’s request was contained in a letter transmitted to the House of Representatives and read by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, during Tuesday’s plenary.

“The purpose of the bill is to make the national social register the primary targeting tool for the implementation of social investment programmes of government,” the letter read in part.

According to Tinubu, the amendment of the law will ensure that the social welfare programmes of the Federal Government “Are data-driven and implementation processes are transparent, targeted, dynamic and effective in delivering social protection benefits to vulnerable Nigerians.”

He urged the federal lawmakers to consider his request in the “usual expeditious manner”.

The programmes under the SIP include N-Power, conditional cash transfer, government enterprise and empowerment programme, and the home-grown school feeding initiative.

Recall that in 2023, the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari signed the law establishing the NSIPA, an agency whose operations have been mired in controversies and allegations of corrupt practices.

On January 2, 2024, the President suspended the Chief Executive Officer of the NSIPA, Halima Shehu, over financial misconduct.

A week later, on January 8, President Tinubu also suspended the then Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu.

The Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Ministry supervises the operations of the NSIPA.

On January 12, Tinubu suspended all programmes administered by NSIPA following the investigation of alleged mismanagement of the agency and its programmes.

On March 13, 2024, the House of Representatives urged the Federal Government to resume the implementation of the suspended social investment initiatives.

The Senate is currently considering a bill seeking to transfer the supervision of NSIPA to the Presidency.