The House of Representatives has urged that more than N30 billion recovered through the presidential probe into financial violations involving the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) be transferred to the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
The decision followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance raised by Rep. Saidu Abdullahi (APC-Bida/Gbako/Katcha) during Tuesday’s sitting in Abuja.
Abdullahi noted that the prolonged withholding of the recovered money had heightened poverty levels by obstructing President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda on reducing hardship.
He raised concern that reliable information showed the recovered sum, put at over ₦30 billion, had still not been credited to the NSIPA-approved TSA.
This situation, he said, had deprived millions of eligible citizens of the social and economic intervention promised by the Federal Government.
According to him, the setback had strained small-scale businesses, intensified suffering in both rural and urban centres, slowed local economic activity and undermined public confidence in government-led welfare programmes.
Abdullahi added that lingering doubt over where the recovered funds were held and how they were being managed had created fiscal dangers and administrative obstacles across national social intervention schemes.
NSIPA is the mandated agency overseeing the government’s major social protection efforts, including the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).
On Jan. 8, 2024, the president, in a move to reinforce accountability and transparency, halted NSIPA’s activities for six weeks to facilitate an in-depth investigation into reported financial breaches.
The Deputy Speaker, Rep. Benjamin Kalu, who chaired the plenary, directed the motion to the appropriate committees for additional legislative review.
