Sadiya Umar Farouq, the minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development, has directed the immediate termination of the contract of two Payment Service Providers, PSPs, for failure to meet the contractual agreement to commence Conditional Cash Transfer to beneficiaries in four states of the federation assigned to them.
She also asked the 500,000-strong N-Power enrollees throughout the country to expect bank credit alerts for outstanding payments of their monthly entitlement from today.
The states affected by the PSPs’ failure to pay to include Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom in the South-South; Abia in the South East and Zamfara in the North West.
The minister said the immediate termination of the contract would be in line with World Bank procurement guidelines to ensure that payments commence in the affected states on or before April 28, 2020.
In a statement issued by her special adviser on media, Salisu Na’inna Dambatta, on Tuesday, April 14, 2020, the minister said the Federal Government would not accept delays in the current payment round of N20,000 stipends to beneficiaries in poor and vulnerable households in the four states or any other states of the federation under any guise.
“The failure of any payment service providers to meet its contractual agreement is unacceptable. The Federal Government, through the Ministry, cannot allow contractors to derail the immediate conditional cash transfers to the poor and the vulnerable,” the minister added.
She also asked the 500,000-strong N-Power enrollees throughout the country to expect to receive bank credit alerts for outstanding payments of their monthly entitlement from Tuesday, April 14, 2020.
The assurance followed her signing of the payment mandate after all due processes were concluded in line with the rules guiding the Federal Government’s public financial expenditure.
The minister in a statement signed by her aide, Dambatta said: “Those responsible for processing the payment must do it in conformity with the necessary rules and regulations to ensure accountability.
“Now that the rules were followed strictly and the process concluded, I was given the assurance that they will start receiving credit alerts from their banks from Tuesday, April 14, 2020.
‘’The creation of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is leading to the institutionalization of the program, which entails that payments for N-Power participants or their enrolment must be through transparent processes in line with the relevant rules to ensure accountability.”
Hattip to Vanguard
