It is to the credit of the suspended minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, that the EFCC and subsequently, most Nigerians, got to know about the alleged transfer of N44billion from the account of National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) to private and some company accounts.
These huge sums meant for disbursement to vulnerable persons, among other social intervention programmes, were reportedly moved by the suspended National Coordinator and CEO of the agency, Halima Shehu. The transfer further confirms the widely held perception among Nigerians that the social investment programmes have been subjected to sustained abuse by some privileged government officials.
It came like a bolt from the blue at a time many were oblivious of the fact that the nation would soon be greeted with a can of worms. And the scandal involving Betta herself for which she was suspended, though still being investigated, reminds one of the popular Hausa saying, ‘duk kanwar ja ce,’ loosely translated to mean birds of the same feather.
Now, it is clear and Nigerians are left with no option than to swallow the bitter pills of reality that some ‘unvulnerable persons’ are feasting on funds earmarked for vulnerable persons.
Cash transfer-induced sleaze
If the present administration ended the subsidy regime because it was unsustainable and benefiting a microscopic few privileged individual, why is it insisting on the cash transfer programmes, which is also benefiting a few corrupt public officials and has failed to yield the desired results?
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration knows too well that attempts by the immediate past administration of Muhammadu Buhari to ‘alleviate poverty’ through disbursement of cash to vulnerable Nigerians, did not yield any positive result; instead, the process was dogged by widespread allegations of corruption.
Virtually all the plethora of social intervention programmes of the Buhari administration, including the school feeding, Conditional Cash Transfer and N-Power were tainted with allegations of corruption because there was no diligent monitoring. For instance, many Nigerians were perplexed when former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouk, said a little above N500 million was spent on feeding school children in two states and Abuja, while schools were shut owing to COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Curiously, the government never said it sent the food to these children in their respective houses.
Hopefully, EFCC’s ongoing investigation of allegations that N37 billion was laundered during Farouk’s tenure as minister may provide answers to how such humongous expenses were incurred at a time schools were shut down with pupils at home. One thing that remains a wonder to most Nigerians is how, as revealed by even the present administration, such large-scale corruption took place under the Buhari administration, a man perceived as an anti-corruption czar.
From inception of the PBAT’s administration to date, one area where allegations of corruption have resonated in a recurring manner outside the ones around former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, is the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, especially under its social intervention programme aimed at addressing the endemic poverty faced by Nigerians, especially those designated as vulnerable.
With these fresh allegations of corruption clouding PBAT’s efforts to address endemic poverty through cash disbursement, one wonders why the government insists on toeing this same worn-out path in the first place?
It all began with the suspension of the Coordinator/CEO of National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu, and her subsequent grilling by the EFCC for allegedly moving billions of naira into private accounts. Interestingly, the anti-graft agency has reportedly intercepted a substantial part of the funds.
While the nation was grappling with the shock of this heist, fresh scandals involving the embattled minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Betta Edu, surfaced with documents showing that she requested payment of N535 million meant for vulnerable groups into a private account. Other damning revelations include the minister’s alleged approval of money for flight tickets and airport taxis for officials travelling to Lokoja even though Kogi State has no airport.
What a man can do…
Curiously, those being accused – they are all innocent until proven guilty – are women, who as mothers, are expected to be compassionate, emotional and loving, the actual reason why both former President Buhari and his successor, elected to assign the portfolio of ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to this particular gender.
But come to think of it, aren’t the women are competing with men as far as public sector corruption in Nigeria is concerned? Under Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, we had Diezani Alison-Madueke who was accused of massive corrupt enrichment. Under Buhari, Sadiya Farouk is being accused of money laundering. Now with BAT, fingers are being pointed at both Halima Shehu and Betta Edu.
While we wait for the outcome of the EFCC’s investigations, one thing is certain: money meant to be disbursed to vulnerable Nigerians has been diverted, to put it mildly.
Take Betta Edu for instance; after telling Nigerians that the money would be disbursed to the beneficiaries directly from the CBN to their respective accounts, she still found it fitting to request that the Accountant General pay a whopping N535 million into the personal account of one Bridget who is said to be the Project Accountant, in clear violation of government’s financial regulation.
But if Betta’s action was surprising, those of the suspended CEO of NSIPA, Halima Shehu, were traumatizing. EFCC, according to media reports, recovered about N39.8 billion out of N44.8billion allegedly transferred from government accounts to some private accounts and companies within five days, between 27th and 31st December 2023.
Assuming without conceding that cash disbursement is the way to go, there is clearly no reason why public money meant for poor and vulnerable people shouldn’t go straight from the CBN into the accounts of the individuals who have been screened and found deserving,
End cash transfer now
It is essential for the BAT administration to know that cash disbursement, especially in a nation mired in a very high public sector corruption where there is no agreeable social register, is not the way to go for any government that truly aims to alleviate poverty.
The fact that such disbursements by the Buhari administration are tainted with widespread allegations of corruption and lack of transparency is enough reason for the present administration to jettison it.
The fitting thing is for the government to focus on the provision of the basics: address insecurity so people can freely go to farms and markets, make healthcare accessible and affordable to all, provide functional education and most importantly, create an enabling environment for jobs so that able-bodied youths can be gainfully engaged. Once this is done, there will definitely be an eventual and, indeed, drastic reduction in poverty.
The current system where the nation borrows money from World Bank and other multilateral institutions in the name of addressing poverty only for the funds to end up in the accounts of few privileged persons is disturbing and should not be allowed to linger. We cannot, as a people, continue on this trajectory. No serious nation does that.
