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President Bola Tinubu has directed the suspension of all administered programmes under the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) with immediate effect.
The action comes amid the ongoing probe into alleged malfeasance in the agency’s management and its programmes, a statement on Friday, January 12, 2024, by Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information in the office to Secretary to the Government of the Federation, noted.
He said, "All four (4) Programmes administered by NSIPA, viz; N- Power Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme and Home Grown School Feeding Programme (the “Programs”) had been suspended for a period of six (6) weeks in the first instance.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has also raised significant concerns regarding operational lapses and improprieties surrounding payments to the Programs’ beneficiaries,” the statement partly read.
According to the statement, Tinubu has, therefore, set up a ministerial panel to conduct a thorough review of the Agency’s operations to recommend necessary reforms of the NSIPA.
During the suspension period, all activities related to NSIPA, including but not limited to all distributions, events, payments, collaborations and registrations will remain frozen.
The President also assured stakeholders and all Nigerians of his administration's commitment to a swift and unbiased process that will ensure that going forward, social intervention programmes will work exactly as intended, to the benefit of the most vulnerable Nigerians.
Following allegations of financial misappropriation and money laundering to the tune of ₦37.1 billion in the agency, Tinubu suspended Halima Shehu, the Chief Executive Officer of NSIP, on January 2, 2024.
Before Shehu's appointment, she served as National Coordinator of the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme in the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development under the embattled former Minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouk.