The Nigerian presidency announced on Friday, September 9, 2016, that the appropriated N500 billion fund allocated for poverty alleviation would be scaled down due to the economic recession.
Maryam Uwais, the special adviser to President Buhari on social investments disclosed the information at the Civil Society Information Dissemination On Monitoring Federal Government Social Protection Program, SPP, on SDG, saying that the action is essential especially as revenue generation has decreased when compared to when the program started.
She, however, did not mention the amount that would be allocated for poverty alleviation, saying that the ministry of finance would determine the sum.
“We have budgetary constrainted so we have to scale down the fund and this depends on what the ministry of finance gives us but clearly the government is not getting the revenue it expects to get,” Mrs. Uwais said.
“Although money was yet to be released for the program but we have being developing framework for the implementation of the project. The cash transfer program was about to start in nine states of the federation as they are about compiling the register of poor people in the states.
“Therefore, we will have to scale down because there are disbursement, it depends on Ministry of Finance, whatever they give us is what we will use but clearly government is not getting the revenue it expected to get,” she said.
Uwais explained that the special intervention project was designed for delivery under five defined programs which consisted of N-Power, Home Grown School Feeding, Cash transfers, Enterprise and Empowerment, and Stem Bursary Programs.
She insisted that, although the school feeding project had started, the program would engage Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to ensure that the register is both practical and reliable.
Ojobo Atulukwu, the ActionAid Country Director also spoke at the occasion, saying that the missing ingredient for a practical solution to many of the country’s growth challenges was the actions of informed citizens.
She added that crystal politics which causes unmanageable tension and creates new problems in Nigeria, are the effects of a conflicting economy.
“The equilibrium as we use to know it is no more and the new point of equilibrium is untested and unknown. This Social Protection Program is expected to create and cushion for protection of the most excluded people of the society, while Nigeria grew as an economy, the people became poorer. “This meeting however, is a sign of the due process adopted by the National Social Investment Office of the SDGs whereby process adopted shows clearly the people’s act leading this process. Accountability is not only about the result is also about the process.” Atulukwu said.
