N-power may suffer SURE-P fate - Senators

Senators yesterday said the Social Intervention Program (SIP) of President Muhammadu Buhari is going the way of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Program (SURE- P) of former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

The lawmakers, who are members of the Senate Appropriation committee, spoke when the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments, Mrs Maryam Uwais appeared before the panel.

The SIP include; N-Power programme, which enrolled thousands of unemployed graduates being paid a monthly stipend of N30,000.

Uwais was grilled for two hours by members committee.

Deputy Chief Whip, Francis Alimikhena (APC,Edo) said: “You are always on the hot seat. It is as if you are given a car without the key. If care is not taken, this program will go the SURE-P way.”

A former Governor of Kebbi State, Adamu Aliero said there was about of the disconnect between the operators of the scheme and the legislators.

He said for the program to succeed, all key stakeholders must be carried along.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Danjuma Goje said despite the fact that N1.5trillion has been appropriated to the scheme; its impact has not been felt by Nigerians.

“As far as I’m concerned, as a senator, a former governor and a former minister, I have not come across a beneficiary of the scheme from my constituency,” he said.

Uwais told the lawmakers that only N175billion has been released to the scheme since it commencement. She said N85bn and N90bn were released in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

“The budget has always been N400bn. We are not privy to what N100bn is being used for. The money is being used for housing scheme under the Ministry of Finance,” she said.

Uwais promised to submit the list of the beneficiaries today saying, “We don’t see the money; it is very easy to track the disbursement.”