Npower Beneficiaries to be Compensated as FG Approves NSIP Bill

The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has disclosed that the ministry will soon clear both July and August payments of all affected Npower beneficiaries. 

The Federal Ministry through the National Social Investment Management System stated that the need to institutionalise Npower and other social investment programmes is part of the reason for delaying July and August payments to all affected beneficiaries. 

It will be recalled that the Federal Executive Council on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, approved the National Social Investment Programme, NSIP (Establishment) Bill, 2022. 

This bill will ensure NSIP is backed by the necessary legislation to ensure its continuity and sustainability. 

The  Bill seeks to establish the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) which will manage and implement all National Social Investment Programmes.

If the bill is passed by the National Assembly and signed by the president, it will provide the necessary statutory backing for the existing NSIP, making it live beyond the present administration. 

In her presentation to the Federal Executive Council, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq described NSIP as a reliable tool for solving poverty problems in Nigeria. 

She further disclosed that the National Social Investment Programme (Establishment) Bill, 2022 is in line with the government’s agenda to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by the year 2030. 

To ensure its sustainability, NSIP will be implemented in full partnership with all 36 State Governments and the FCT. The Federal Executive Council also approved a budgetary allocation status for NSIP while 5 percent of all recovered and repatriated funds will be additional funds for all NSIP programmes.  

NSIP is a federal government social initiative established in 2016 to cater for the unemployed youth, the poor, the displaced and elderly people. It has four cardinal programmes which include NPOWER, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) and the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (CCT).