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Fred Itua, Abuja
The Presidency has responded to allegations by Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, over claims that the Social Investment Programme (SIP) is a scam.
Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments, Maryam Uwais, in a statement, said her office did not receive any N2 trillion as speculated.
Instead, she said only about N600 billion was given to her office, representing less than 40 per cent of the total approved sum between 2016-2019.
She said she needed to set the records straight so that the public will not be misled. She said she handed over the responsibilities to the ministry of humanitarian affairs in October, 2019.
“The NSIPs have been handed over to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs since October 2019, but it has become necessary to respond to the unfortunate allegations made at the National Assembly on the 7th of April 2020, which allegations were made in respect of certain aspects of the NSIPs from inception in November 2015 to September 2019.
“Although the total appropriation by the National Assembly (NASS) from inception for the NSIPs is N1.7 trillion, the actual funds released for the NSIPs between January 2016 and October 2019 (when the NSIPs were handed over to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development), amounted to N619.1 billion, constituting 36.4% of the total appropriation from the NASS.”
