The National Steering Committee on the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS), yesterday, stated that it had expended N50 billion from its initial N400 billion grant approved for it by the federal government last year.
Making this to correspondents after a meeting of the Committee, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, said the meeting was aimed at reviewing the implementation of the programme.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had in 2021 set up the NPRGS, with Osinbajo at its head.
In July, last year, the Federal Government approved a N400 billion grant to the Steering Committee for the implementation of the programme. It was to operate through certain welfare schemes, including the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer, Farmer Money, and Market Money.
However, Sule, who is also the co-chair of the Technical Working Group of the Committee, said N50 billion had been expended.
“In July 2022, we did the same, Steering Committee being chaired by the Vice President, sat down and reviewed a presentation by the Technical Working Group, which is chaired by the Minister of State Budget and National Planning, as well as myself as the co-chair.
“So we presented the approval of the N400 billion and the distribution of how it will be spent. So today we just came to review the implementation, and the update of the spending so far and also approval for this year spending for the same committee. So that’s really what just happened”, he said.
On how much had been disbursed and the level of implementation now being that the administration is winding down, the co-chairman said, “it’s not a governor thing but a national project where Mr. President, based on the advice, recommendation of the Presidential Economic Advisory Committee and the Office of the SGF, make a recommendation for this particular committee to reform. So it’s a national thing, it’s not for any particular state.
“Now, based on that and the recommendation that was made, and for what we received from the chairman of the Technical Working Group, over 50 billion has been spent so far.
“So the performance so far is not yet where we expect to go but nearly every aspect of the 15 areas where the spending will be carried out. The Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Finance and National Planning as well, so every one of them has some kind of implementation, one after another,” he said.