Only N1 billion has so far been spent out of the N500 billion Social Intervention Fund by the Federal Government. President Buhari only last week proposed to vire the sum of N800 million from the fund to be used for other projects.
Making the disclosure on Monday while appearing before the National Assembly joint committees on Appropriation, The Special Adviser to the President on Social Protection Plan, Mrs. Maryam Uwais, disclosed this during a session with the Joint National Assembly Committee on Appropriation.
She said a total of N25 billion has been received by her office with additional N40 billion approved last week.
She said about a billion naira has been spent so far by her office out of the entire N500 billion budgeted for the social intervention fund.
She said the poor releases of the funds, accounted for the inability of her office to utilize them.
When the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe Central) asked her whether she has objection on the virement of funds from her office, she said she has no objection.
Some of the federal lawmakers had condemned her disposition towards allowing virement to be made from the fund set aside for implementation of one of the critical programmes of the present administration like N5, 000 monthly stipends to indigent citizens.
Mrs Uwais explained to the lawmakers that out of the N65billion her office would have in its coffers, N60 billion would be spent on 200,000 unemployed Nigerians recently engaged across the 774 local governments on the basis of N30, 000per head.
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed said the N500billion budgeted for the social intervention programme cannot be utilized before the end of this fiscal year.
She said the virement would be channelled to the Amnesty Programme, operations of the Armed forces, Operation Lafiya Dole, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Foreign Missions, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE), among others.
However, the Director of Finance and Account of the NYSC, Mr. Isaac Adeleke shocked the gathering when he couldn’t give the exact virement request of the NYSC.
When the lawmakers asked him to state the amount being requested by the NYSC, Adeleke said N8.5billion.
After the Senate Committee Chairman, Danjuma Goje pressed him further, the
Director General of Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabueze came to his rescue, saying it was N19.7billion and not N8.5billion quoted by the NYSC finance Director
In his remarks, Goje said the report of his Committee on the virement would be laid on the floor latest tomorrow for general approval by the Senatae.
