By Uche Onuorah
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the
Federal Government of failing to properly account for billions of naira meant
to support some of Nigeria’s poorest households, describing the country’s
social intervention system as an “organised racket”.
The allegation followed an Auditor-General of the Federation
report which, according to the opposition party, found that N33.75 billion in cash transfers made to 3.29
million households could not be verified.
The ADC said the finding should not be treated as a routine
administrative error, arguing that it raised deeper concerns about how public
money intended for vulnerable Nigerians was being managed.
In a statement issued on Monday, the party’s National Publicity
Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the latest disclosure fitted into what
he described as a troubling history surrounding the government’s social
investment programmes.
“Let us call this what it is. Not mismanagement. Not an
oversight. It is an organised racket,” Abdullahi said.
The party also revisited earlier controversies involving
former Humanitarian Affairs Minister Betta Edu and former National Social
Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) chief executive Halima Shehu.
The ADC alleged that N585
million was transferred to a private account linked to Edu early in the
Tinubu administration, while N44
billion was allegedly unaccounted for during Shehu’s tenure.
The party said those unresolved issues made the Federal
Government’s plan to launch a new $1
billion Renewed Hope Social Protection Programme difficult to accept
without stronger guarantees over the use of public funds.
It questioned whether adequate safeguards had been
introduced to prevent a repeat of the problems associated with earlier intervention
schemes.
Abdullahi argued that simply announcing another large social
protection programme would not reassure Nigerians unless the government could
demonstrate that its systems for tracking beneficiaries, approving payments and
monitoring expenditure had been strengthened.
He warned that without such changes, the new programme could
face the same problems that had surrounded previous interventions.
The ADC also connected the growing dependence on cash
assistance to the wider economic pressures facing Nigerians following the
removal of the petrol subsidy and the devaluation of the naira.
The party accused the government of worsening living
conditions through its economic policies and then failing to properly
administer the programmes intended to ease the resulting hardship.
“This is a government that manufactured hardship with one
hand and pocketed the relief with the other,” the party said.
The opposition party is now calling for a comprehensive
investigation into the social intervention scheme and the money distributed
through it.
It wants the government to publish the full beneficiary register, REMITA payment records and the
identities of officials it alleges may have prevented the Auditor-General from
carrying out his work effectively.
The demands place renewed attention on the transparency of
Nigeria’s social protection programmes at a time when millions of households
are struggling with rising living costs.
For the ADC, the issue goes beyond the disputed payments. It
is demanding evidence that money set aside to cushion vulnerable Nigerians is
reaching the people for whom it was intended.
The party said the government must provide clear answers
before committing another $1 billion to social protection, warning that without
greater transparency and accountability, public confidence in the programme
would remain under serious pressure.
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