*N80bn taken so far without clear explanation, says Ndume

By Henry Umoru & Joseph Erunke

ABUJA- THE Senate, Tuesday, condemned in very strong terms, the alleged mismanagement of the N500 billion Social Intervention Funds by the Federal government, just as it asked the federal government to as a matter of urgency, put in place a clear channel of accountability as well as provision for auditing on a continuous basis.

President Muhammadu Buhari

According to the Senate, to avoid the pitfalls of the past intervention schemes of the federal government, the executive must take another look at the intervention Programme, with a view to incorporating manual registration of beneficiary from all wards and local governments in the country.

The Senate also asked the Federal Government to present a clear framework that does not marginalize any segment of our society no matter where they may be in the country and present same to the National Assembly within two weeks.

The resolutions of the Senate, today, were sequel to a motion by Senate leader Ali Ndume, APC, Borno South and titled, ” the Need to avoid the Mismanagement of the N500 billion Intervention Funds.”

The Senate also asked the Presidency to ensure that the implementation of the Intervention program was framed to be robust enough to reach the poorest in our community for whom the programme was first conceived.

Presenting the motion earlier, Senate leader Ndume who noted that a huge amount of N80 billion has already been taken out of the N500 billion without any explanation on what the money was spent on, said, “The Senate is concerned that the implementation of such a huge programme is now being carried out in the same manner as the other failed social interventions funds like the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme SURE-P, without a proper framework which led to their failures.

“In the light of the recent petitions and complaints from our constituencies this money will not be well spent, nor will it achieve any major benefit to the economy despite the good intentions of Government because of the way it’s been structured”

Ndume who noted that a proper social intervention scheme must be robust enough to capture all segment of the Nigerian population, said, “we are not building a nation for elites alone, but a nation for all citizens.

According to him, “the Senate: Observes that one of the cardinal policy thrusts of the current APC government has been the use of social-safety nets through interventions schemes to foster inclusive growth and opportunity for our people.”