Reps Probe Whereabouts Of N30bn Recovered Social Programme Funds

The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the status and whereabouts of the funds recovered from the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), estimated at over N30 billion, from 2024 to 2025.

President Bola Tinubu suspended NSIPA operations on January 8, 2024, for a period of six weeks to facilitate a comprehensive investigation into alleged financial infractions by relevant security and anti-corruption agencies.

The House agreed to constitute an Ad-hoc Committee to probe the total funds recovered from NSIPA during the 2024–2025 investigations, determine their current status and custodianship, and identify any issues delaying their release to the appropriate agencies to facilitate the prompt recommencement of the social investment programmes.

This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by the member representing.
Bida/Gbako/Katcha federal constituency of Niger state, Hon. Saidu Abdullahi, at plenary on Tuesday.

Moving the motion, Abdullahi said NSIPA is the statutory institution responsible for implementing the federal government’s flagship social protection programmes, including the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) and the Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG).

According to him, the initiatives have been strategically designed to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty, improve nutrition and school enrolment, promote financial inclusion, expand livelihood opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurs, and strengthen national socioeconomic stability.

Abdullahi recalled that Tinubu had suspended the NSIPA operations for six weeks to enable a comprehensive investigation into alleged financial infractions by relevant security and anti-corruption agencies.

He stated that the investigation led to the tracing, freezing, and recovery of substantial public funds belonging to the agency from deposit money banks and payment service providers, including funds allocated for TraderMoni, MarketMoni, FarmerMoni, and Grants for Vulnerable Groups.

Abdullahi expressed concern that credible sources have indicated that the recovered funds, estimated at over N30 billion, have not been remitted into NSIPA’s designated Treasury Single Account (TSA), thereby stalling programme implementation and leaving millions of intended beneficiaries without the social and economic support envisioned by the Federal Government.

He raised concerns that “the prolonged non-release of these funds undermines the Renewed Hope Agenda by slowing down poverty alleviation efforts, weakening small-scale enterprises, exacerbating hardship in rural and urban communities, delaying local economic stimulation, and eroding public trust in the government’s social protection commitments.

“Continued uncertainty over the exact location, custodial status, and administrative handling of the recovered funds poses fiscal risks, disrupts programme timelines, and may create institutional bottlenecks across related national social intervention initiatives.

Despite the presidential approval lifting the suspension on NSIPA operations on 21 January 2025, the Agency has been unable to resume full implementation of its programmes, allegedly due to the non-availability of recovered funds expected to have been released, thereby exposing millions of Nigerians to prolonged socioeconomic distress.

Adopting the motion, the committee mandated the yet-to-be-constituted ad-hoc committee to engage with the relevant agencies to obtain all necessary information and clarifications relating to the recovered funds, and also to get a straightforward implementation and disbursement plan from NSIPA, showing how the recovered funds will be utilised once released.