Notwithstanding beneficiary verification delays at banks and uncertainty about payment schedules in some states, among other bureaucratic hiccups, the Federal Government’s 774 000 Extended Special Public Works (ESPW) programme seems to be ploughing on across most states, writes ROBERT EGBE
President Muhammadu Buhari, on January 4, rekindled interest in the 774,000 Extended Special Public Works (ESPW) programme following his announcement that the scheme would begin nationwide the next day.
The programme which was originally slated to kick off last October 1, was postponed owing to floods in some of the project sites.
It is expected to ensure that 1,000 people from each of the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the country are employed. It will also be coordinated by constituted state committees, with the beneficiaries earning N20,000 monthly.
At the launch of the programme on January 7, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Festus Keyamo said all National Directorate of Employment (NDE) state structures were already in top gear for the take-off ceremonies.
The Nation’s assessment of the project across the country shows that while the ESPW has commenced in most states, the rate of progression differs.
In some states, banking problems have caused delays, but the programme seems to be progressing at a steady pace, except for Anambra and Plateau.
Rivers gets about N1.38b, pays beneficiaries
The situation in Rivers State was made interesting following last August’s announcement by Governor Nyesom Wike that he had pulled out of the programme, sighting alleged hijack by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Nevertheless, this did not stop the 774 000 Extended Special Public Works (ESPW) programme from progressing, according to the chairman, Rivers State job selection committee, Dr. Innocent Barikor.
Dr. Barikor noted that the programme reached the implementation stage in the state three months behind schedule, but expressed satisfaction that the cause of the delay was addressed.
The former state Lawmaker told The Nation in Port Harcourt that the state got about N1.38 billion for 23,000 beneficiaries.
He said equipment for the applicants had begun to arrive and were being distributed to local government councils, through the office of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).
Each beneficiary, he explained, received a start-up capital of N60,000 which was paid to them through the banks that are managing the programme.
“The programme is designed in such a way that no state coordinator sees or touches the money, nobody is going to hold money for anybody,” Barikor said.
According to him, the amount each state gets is dependent on the number of its local government councils.
Barikor said: “Rivers state has 23 Local Government Areas, and 1000 beneficiaries from each LGA. Multiply that by N60,000 per beneficiary will give you an idea of how much the state is expected to get on the average.
“There are six banks involved, so the moment the money hits the accounts of the banks, it is expected that they pay it to the owners without delay.”
He confirmed that the state had taken delivery of start-up packs for the beneficiaries, adding that local governments had begun to take delivery of their lots.
Banks delay compilation of ESPWP beneficiaries in Akwa Ibom
Things got off to a slow start in Akwa Ibom following verification delays, according to the state’s Coordinator of the Extended Special Public Works Programme, Catherine Udi.
She blamed banks for delaying the compilation of beneficiaries’ names three weeks after the programme was flagged off in the state.
Mrs Udi said as a result of this, not all of the 1,000 beneficiaries from across the 31 local government areas, have so far resumed work.
She noted that while the programme officially kicked off in the state on January 11, actual work began last Friday.
According to her, participants of the ESPWP have since resumed work, having been provided with equipment and work tools such as cutlasses, wheelbarrows, rakes, shovels, brooms and brushes, among others.
She mentioned that they were essentially engaged in urban and rural beautification, cleaning of drainages, cutting of grasses, demolishing of old, dilapidated buildings and erecting new ones etc.
Network failure delays capturing of beneficiaries in Katsina
Like in Akwa Ibom, banks were also blamed for delays in Katsina State.
A member of the state’s selection committee Reverend Nelson Onyekachukwu said some banks had been experiencing difficulties capturing some of the beneficiaries.
Onyekachukwu, who is also the Chairman, Katsina State branch of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), told The Nation that though the capturing process of beneficiaries was fairly smooth, there were some delays by banks who often complained about network challenges.
The Katsina State Coordinator of the National Directorate of Employment, NDE, Alhaji Yerima Saidu Iya said states cannot present a realistic estimate of what each had received from the N50billion allocated for the Special Public Works Programme by the federal government for the nationwide campaign.
Isa maintained that the total receipts per state cannot be captured now due to the nature of the programme with regular expenditures being incurred daily.
He said: “We have already deployed the beneficiaries to cover the following works: Maintenance of hospitals and school facilities, road excavation, construction of drainages and other ancillary public works’’
‘’1000 beneficiaries were captured from each of the 34 LGA of Katsina State through the state selection committee which worked in partnership with selected banks.’’
N1b for 16,000 Kwara beneficiaries
According to the Kwara State Chairman of the ESPW selection committee, Olusegun Oyewo, no fewer than 16,000 beneficiaries of the programme in the state will earn almost N1billion in the next three months.
Each beneficiary from the state’s 16 local government areas, will earn a monthly stipend of N20,000 each for three months.
“Majority of the beneficiaries have already been registered and verified by the approved banks. I encourage those that haven’t registered at the banks to do so immediately. The banks have also been instructed to communicate with selected beneficiaries that haven’t registered with them,” Oyewo said.
Gombe flags off programme for 11,000 beneficiaries
Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Ali Pantami and Gombe State Governor Muhammadu Yahaya flagged off the ESPW programme in Gombe last Friday.
Each of the 11,000 beneficiaries comprising 1,000 employed from each of the state’s 11 council areas, is expected to get N20,000 at the end of the month, while.
The state Coordinator of NDE, Mustapha Hassan said the recruitment was done across all the eleven LGAs of the state and its 114 wards.
Beneficiaries yet to be paid in Bauchi
The ESPW programme is underway in Bauchi State, but beneficiaries are yet to be paid their monthly stipends, The Nation can report.
A source at the NDE office in the State told our correspondent in confidence that banks are expected to send the account details of beneficiaries to the office of the Minister of State for Labour and Employment for onward transmission to NDE headquarters for payment via the Central Bank of Nigeria, but there is a delay in the process.
He identified the six banks selected for the programme as Access, FCMB, Fidelity, Heritage, UBA, and Zenith.
Speaking on the nature of jobs to be carried out by the selected youth, the source said they are expected to participate in environmental sanitation such as sweeping markets, mosques, churches, adding that they will also fumigate gutters and clean culverts.
Plateau public works members disbanded
There is no clarity about the state of the ESPW programme in Plateau State following indications that executive members of the state’s selection committee have been disbanded.
This was according to the committee’s secretary, Mr Mark Mato.
Similarly, the coordinator of Public Works, Hon. Rufus Bature told The Nation that he had concluded his assignment.
The duo stated this in separate phone calls. According to Mato, “We have been disbanded and do not have the mandate to speak.”
Over 17,000 unskilled workers were recruited from 17 LGAs in Plateau and would be paid N20,000 each for three months.
‘Anambra not aware of any fund’
Anambra State presents a curious case. The state’s ESPW coordinator, Sir Uzoma Igbonwa, said he was not aware of disbursement of any fund.
He told The Nation that he would make enquiries to find out what was going on.
Nevertheless, he listed one of the challenges in the state as “laziness” on the part of the appointed banks.
Igbonwa said: “The appointed banks are lazy to do the job. Most of the beneficiaries are yet to open accounts with the designated banks.
“The banks have the lists and are supposed to send messages to the beneficiaries and go to their respective LGAs to capture their BVN and open the account for them, all to no avail.”
Delta beneficiaries to receive January stipend soon
ESPW beneficiaries in Delta state are yet to receive their stipend for January. Chairman of the state’s selection committee, Professor Kelly Ejumudo, disclosed this in a phone conversation with The Nation, adding that payment will be done soon.
Minister for State, Labour and Employment Festus Keyamo had, during the launch of the programme on January 7, revealed that N1.59 billion had been released for the payment of stipends to 25,000 selected beneficiaries across the 25 Local Government Areas (LGA) in Delta state.
Asked what work has been done thus far, Ejumudo stated that “full-blown work” will commence soon, but preliminary works had started.
He explained that the LGA coordinators were in the process of getting work tools from the office of the NDE, Asaba, while beneficiaries will have to get their posting letters from the agency.
“January stipend will be paid very soon. The collection of tools has started. The fact is that some of the selected beneficiaries have not gone through documentation. For example, supplementary lists, we still have LGAs that their last lists have not been submitted yet because it must fit that 1,000 marks. But, whether it has hit that 1,000 marks or not, it will not stop the January stipend.
17,000 recruited in Abia
NDE state coordinator in Abia State, Mrs Chijioke Uzoatuegwu, told The Nation that 17, 000 beneficiaries have been deployed across the state’s 17 local government areas, but he was unaware if they had been paid their first salary.
Uzoatuegwu said the selection of the beneficiaries was done according to the directives from the supervising Ministry; Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
The state NDE boss said the recruitment of the beneficiaries was done by State Selection Coordinators from various local government areas of the state.
“The equipment they use to work are under the custody of various local governments where they (beneficiaries) will go and sign for the materials and after working, they will return the implements there.
“I don’t know if they have received salaries because they are paid directly into the account numbers which they submitted to the SSC during their registration and documentation.”
‘No money released to Bayelsa yet’
A member of the Bayelsa State Committee on Special Public Works Programme, Igwoku Emmanuel, said he was not aware of any particular amount has been released to the state.
He said no beneficiary had been paid in the state since the programme was officially inaugurated about three weeks ago.
He stated: “All I know is that every beneficiary is to be paid N20,000 every month for three months. If it is going to be extended, we don’t know but that is the information at our disposal.
“As of the time of our inauguration, our responsibility was just for selection and screening of beneficiaries. After that, there was supposed to be another committee for implementation which was supposed to implement. Our work was supposed to end with just the screening which we have done since.”
Beneficiaries expecting first pay in Oyo
Beneficiaries of the ESPW project in Oyo State are already expecting their first pay. The state coordinator of the project, Mr Ope Salami, told The Nation that several beneficiaries started the project when it was launched on January 5 in the state. He said they were yet to receive their first pay possibly because the month just ended, indicating that the money was being expected.
According to him, all the 33 local governments in the state had received equipment for 1,000 beneficiaries each, being their host. He added that each local government was given the type of equipment required for the type of public works to be undertaken by beneficiaries.
Salami explained that commercial banks were handling registration and documentation of beneficiaries while the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) issues their identity cards.
He, however, revealed that the procedure was slightly slowed down by the method adopted by the banks. Salami disclosed that the banks sent SMS to beneficiaries giving their account numbers and requesting them to come for registration whereas the beneficiaries did not have any prior knowledge of such step. Consequently, he said many beneficiaries treated the messages as a fraud with some deleting them from their mobile phones.
He said they later went to the banks after learning that the messages were for the ESPW jobs. Salami added that the banks had since made amends thereby clearing the way for all beneficiaries to register and start work at their local governments.
ESPW stalled in Osun
Commencement of work for beneficiaries of Extended Special Public Works (ESPW) suffered a setback in Osun State as the scheme awaits more lists of participants from its headquarters.
The National Directorate of Employment, Osun State had on Monday, January 11, 2021, flagged off the programme at the Multi-Purpose Hall of the Local Government Service Commission, Abere, Osogbo.
The State Coordinator of NDE, Osun State, Mr Ismaila Abiola, said the agency was awaiting more lists of beneficiaries.
“The Director-General of NDE is sending the list in batches. The list of the beneficiaries was sent to us, we are registering them and we are awaiting the remaining list from our headquarters. When we are done with the registration we will deploy them to where they will work.
“All the equipment that is needed for the job is available at all the local government areas in Osun State. We have shovels, head pans, wheelbarrows, brush cutters, pickers, and chemicals, amongst others.”
Minister awaiting reports
For Minister of Labour and Employment Festus Keyamo, the silence was golden on the ESPW. Keyamo declined to speak on the matter because he was still expecting further reports from states.
But sources at both the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and National Directorate of Employment told The Nation that the commencement of the work was almost at 90 per cent as most states were on board.
One of the sources said participants will be paid based on when their state commenced the programme.
The source added that payment would be based on when states flagged off the programme and when actual work began.
“Most states have flagged off the programme but payment is not based on month-end basis. Payments will be based on when states flagged off. So participants will be paid based on when their states flagged off the programme and when actual works began.
“Some of the states have already commenced the programme after flag off so those participants will be paid based on when the states commenced the programme,” the source said.
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Reports by: Rosemary Nwisi, Port Harcourt; Bassey Anthony, Uyo; Augustine Okezie, Katsina; Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin; Sola Shittu, Gombe; David Adenuga, Bauchi; Kolade Adeyemi, Jos; Nwanosike Onu, Awka; Elo Edremoda, Warri; Sunny Nwankwo, Aba; Simon Utebor, Yenagoa; Bisi Oladele, Ibadan; Toba Adedeji, Osogbo; and Frank Ikpefan, Abuja
