The House of Representatives has moved to investigate the status of the money reportedly recovered from the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).
Gatekeepers News reports that the chamber aims to establish who currently holds the funds and determine why they have not been released to the agencies responsible for restarting the suspended social investment programmes.
The resolution was adopted during Tuesday’s sitting after a motion of urgent public importance was presented by Saidu Abdullahi, an APC member from Niger State.
The affected programmes under the scheme include N-Power, the Conditional Cash Transfer, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, and the Home-Grown School Feeding Initiative.
NSIPA’s account had been frozen in 2024 after allegations of financial misconduct led to the suspension of Betta Edu, who was then the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, and Halima Shehu, who was the agency’s chief executive. The House has since made several calls for the account to be reopened and for the programmes to resume.
During the debate, Abdullahi said federal investigations recovered more than N30 billion but noted that the funds were yet to be transferred into NSIPA’s Treasury Single Account. He explained that the delay has hindered the restart of the programmes and denied support to millions of citizens.
He warned that withholding the funds weakens ongoing poverty-reduction efforts, prevents small businesses from accessing expected assistance, worsens economic hardship across the country, and reduces public confidence in the government’s social protection plans.
He added that the unclear location and handling of the recovered funds could disrupt timelines and create new administrative obstacles for national intervention initiatives.
Abdullahi also noted that despite the approval given on January 21, 2025, to lift NSIPA’s suspension, the agency has been unable to resume full operations because the recovered funds have not been released.
The motion was approved through a voice vote led by Benjamin Kalu. The House then agreed to form an ad hoc committee to work with relevant institutions and gather complete details on the recovered funds.
