SURE-P can’t be hijacked by politicians – FG

By SIMON  EBEGBULEM

BENIN—THE Federal Government has vowed to ensure that the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P, was not hijacked by politicians.

Speaking, yesterday, during the flag-off ceremony of the Community Services/Women and Youth Empowerment Programme Scheme, Chairman of Edo State Implementation Committee of SURE-P, and former Deputy Governor of the state, Chief Lucky Imasuen, noted that President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration had arranged the programme in such a way that the beneficiaries will receive their payments directly and not through any politician.

Recalling that the programme was introduced due to the recent partial removal of subsidy on petroleum products, with a view to mitigating the impact on the poor and the disabled, Imasuen said that all Nigerians will benefit from the programme, no matter their political affiliations.

He said: “This is to complement the transformation agenda of the Federal Government’s Vision 20-20-20, which sets the target for Nigeria becoming one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020. This programme is to create immediate short term employment opportunities for women and youths through the labour-intensive public workfare.

“It will create employment for 3,000 youths and women and later 5,000. Each of the beneficiaries will be receiving N10,000 monthly and the beneficiaries will receive their alert directly from the bank. It is not a party thing. It is Goodluck’s alert.”