Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, says the Social Investment Programmes (SIP) coordinated by Maryam Uwais, a Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment, failed in the North.
The SIPs are; the N-Power, Conditional Cash Transfers, National Home-Grown School Feeding and Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programmes (GEEP).
Speaking at an interactive forum at Aso Rock on Saturday, May 25, 2019, Mrs Buhari said she was told that over 30,000 women from Adamawa are yet to benefit from the programme.
“Concerning the N500 billion voted for SIP, that was part of 2015 campaigns where they promised to give out N10,000, feed pupils in primary schools and give N5,000 to the poorest of the poor,” Aisha began.
“The SSA to the president on social investment is a lady from Kano and I’m sure that my husband decided to put somebody from Kano because of the population and political impact it made. I have never asked how the money is used or being given out.
“I met one of the president’s aides on SIP once and he promised me that for my state (Adamawa), N10,000 each would be given to 30,000 women but up till now, I haven’t heard from him.
“I don’t want to raise alarm that my state did not benefit from it. That’s where the secretary to the government of the federation is from. I kept quiet because I didn’t want people to say that I talk too much. Recently I saw a 74-year-old man selling petty things in Kano, I asked him how much is his capital, he told me between N3,000 and N4,000… Don’t forget that we have campaigned to give the poorest of the poor, N5,000 every month.
“So, I don’t know where the social investment worked. Maybe it worked out in some states. In my own state, only a local government benefited out of the 22 LGAs. I didn’t ask what happened and I don’t want to know but I can say it failed woefully in Kano. We have a lot of women who do business locally due to the cultural thing in the north, they are at home doing their businesses. Some are millionaires, some have thousands of naira, they need the assistance but they did not get it. Most northern women do not belong to any market association
“I was expecting that N500 billion to be utilized in different methods in the north for the aim to be achieved. I don’t know the method they used but most of the northern states did not get it.”
N16 million for mosquito nets?
She also expressed reservations on the $16 million counterpart fund expended on mosquito nets.
“I have heard about mosquito nets, Nigeria paid its counterpart fund, $16 million. I asked them to give my own share of the net to send it to my village people, I didn’t get it,” she said.
“They spent, $16 million buying mosquito nets, I did not get it, maybe some people have it. But I feel that $16 million is enough to fumigate mosquitoes all over Nigeria. That’s my opinion.”
The wife of the president also said Buhari had approved N12 billion for the treatment of trauma cases across the country.
“Over N12 billion has been released by the president to take care of trauma cases in across the country. Can you please monitor the money? The ministers are going very soon and the money has been released,” she said.
Cabal running Nigeria
For years, Aisha has been the biggest critic of her husband's administration.
In an interview with the BBC in 2016, Aisha accused a certain cabal, within her husband's government, of running the affairs of Nigeria.
Although Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had denied knowledge of any cabal within the government, Aisha insisted that at least 45 of the 50 cabinet members were hired by the cabal.
The President's wife also criticised the lack of functional facilities at the Aso Villa Clinic which is expected to cater for the members of her family and Nigerians who work at the State House..