The House of Representatives on Tuesday summoned the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, over the implementation of the N1.1 trillion Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) for vulnerable Nigerians.
The resolution which was passed sequel to the adoption of a motion under ‘Matters of urgent public importance’ sponsored by Hon. Moshood Adebayo (PDP-Osun), who harped on the need to scrutinize the policy on the CCT.
This is coming on the heels of public outcry on the Minister’s inability to make public the policy statement on various programmes to be implemented.
In his lead debate, Hon. Adebayo harped on the need for the House to exercise its oversight power on the CCT scheme, which he observed is an immediate intervention by the Federal Government to cushion the effect of the removal of petrol subsidy and other economic shocks for vulnerable groups in Nigeria.
“The House also note that the conditional cash transfer is one of the 15 items in the memorandum of understanding between the Federal Government and Organized Labour on October 2nd, 2023.
“The House is aware that 15 million households will be receiving N25,000 each over a period of 3 months.
“The House is also aware that there has been a lot of unsatisfactory feedback from the ways and manners palliative to vulnerable Nigerians have been handled by some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) which has not in any way reduced hardship in the land.
“It is pertinent to remind this honourable House about the ugly scenario witnessed during the COVID-19 palliative distribution few years ago, where items from international donor meant to cushion the effect of the pandemic were mismanaged.
“The House is further aware that the World Bank country representative, Shubham Chaudhuri confirmed that cash transfers are widely applicable to reduce poverty.
“The House is cognizant that the removal of fuel subsidy necessitated the introduction of various programmes, policies and intervention to alleviate and boost the economics of families and small businesses.
“The House is also cognizant that the National Assembly members being closer to the people of Nigeria are meant to represent the interest and concerns of their constituents at the national level, therefore deserved to be fully briefed and carried along in the implementation process.
“The House is worried that there is growing suspicion of ways and manners this programme will be implemented.
“The House is also worried that the lack of transparent handling of the previous conditional cash transfer programmes has led to corruption and fraud, where funds intended for vulnerable people were misappropriated by individuals,” he noted.
To this end, the House mandated the joint Committees on Constituency Outreach and Poverty Alleviation to invite the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to give detailed policy documents adopted in allocation and distribution of funds for the conditional cash transfer in order to ensure transparency and accountability which are fundamental principles of good governance.