Politics
FG goes back on N500bn poverty alleviation fund promise
Nigerian Government has said that it is no longer possible under the present economic reality to implement the N500 billion poverty alleviation fund as earlier promised..
Government said due to budgetary constrains, it has no option but to scale down the fund based on whatever amount it will receive from the Ministry of Finance.
This was disclosed by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Investments, Maryam Uwais, who explained that the decision to make a reduction in the poverty alleviation fund was based on the current economic situation the country has found itself.
She said this at the Civil Society Information Dissemination on Monitoring Federal Government Social Protection Programme, adding that the decision was necessary as revenue generation has dropped compared to when the programme started.
Read also: Recession: Nigeria’s telecom sector loses N32bn in 2016 Q2
“We have budgetary constrain 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.
“Although money was yet to be released for the program but we have been 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. 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.
By Ebere Ndukwu …
RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...