The federal government says it has spent at least three hundred billion naira on the National Social Investment Program in the last three years. Special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on national social welfare programme, Maryam Uwais, made the disclosure in Abuja on Tuesday.
She spoke during a joint oversight visit by members of the senate and house committee on poverty alleviation. The delegation was led by Lawal Gumau and Mohammed Wudil, chairmen of the committees in the two chambers.
Uwais said since inception in 2016, the social investment programs has been focused on improving the living conditions of Nigerians through capacity building, investment and direct support. She stated that the government presently has over eleven-point-five million direct beneficiaries and about nine million indirect beneficiaries on all its programmes.
Uwais added that the government is presently paying about three hundred thousand people under the Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme. Commenting on the national school feeding programme, Uwais said over 9.5 million pupils in 30 states were being fed while 101,000 cooks were empowered.
On the challenges in the delivery of social benefits, Uwais said adequate funding remains a major setback.
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