The special adviser  to President Muhammadu Buhari on the National Social Investment Programme(NSIP) Maryam  Uwais informed the National Assembly on Thursday that  the program received between 2016 and 2017 N175 billion out of the N1 trillion approved  in the budgets for the  two years.

Uwais’ clarification came after Senator Danjuma Goje, chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation said  Nigerians had not felt the impact of  the program, claiming that the National Assembly had approved a  N1.5 trillion budget for  it in three years.

Goje made this observation when  Uwais, appeared before the Committee on Appropriation  to provide clarification on 2018 budget estimate.

But his comment appeared to have been based on an incorrect  notion that the program had gobbled  ”N1.5 trillion” approved by the National Assembly, as Uwais said the program received a total of  N175 billion between 2016 and 2017.

According to the State House website, the program kicked off in 2016 and it logically followed that it did not  feature in the 2015 budget bequeathed by the Jonathan administration.

The special adviser said: “You may kindly recall that a sum of N500 billion was appropriated for the NSIP budget in 2017, out of which N100 billion was allocated for the Social Housing Scheme under the Federal Ministry of Finance.

“Further more, out of the balance N400 billion, only N90 billion was released to the NSIP for the year 2017.”

She also said that the programme  received the sum of N85 billion in 2016.

“Unfortunately, N100 billion is deducted at source for Housing Scheme by the Federal Ministry of Finance.”

However, Goje was unsparingly critical of the program, saying it was gradually going the way of the disbanded Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Program (SURE-P) of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

He said the Senate would not hesitate to drastically reduce the yearly allocation of N500 billion to NSIP if  its performance did not improve.

Goje, who stressed the importance of the program, noted that by the end of three years, the NSIP would have handled  N1.5 trillion which, according to him, is unprecedented.

“Many people are complaining that they have not seen the impact of the program considering the magnitude of the fund involved.

“I am from Gombe State, I represent Gombe Central. I am yet to see one single boy who came to tell me that he has benefited from your N500 billion.

“Many other Nigerians are saying the same thing. N500 billion for 36 states is about N13 billion. If you spend N13 billion in one year in Gombe State, there is no way I would not have known, other people will also know.

“If you spend N500 billion in one year in Nigeria, Nigerians will know. No single All Progressives Congress person from Gombe State has benefited from your School Feeding Program.

“No single person from Gombe State has benefited from your N-Power. We don’t know about your N-Power. As far as many of us are concerned, we are completely dissatisfied with what you are doing,” he said.

Goje also said that there was no indication to show that N100 billion is deducted from source for Social Housing Scheme by the Ministry of Finance.

The Social Investment Program already has 200,000 Nigerian graduates from all over the country under its N-Power Program, with each person receiving a stipend of N30,000 a month. An additional 300,000 graduates have been shortlisted for the next phase of the program, according to the Media office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Out of the enumerated 439,859 poor and vulnerable households in 23 states under the National Social Safety Net Program, 297,973  are already benefiting from the cash transfer program.

In addition,  6,044,625 pupils in  33,981 primary schools in 20 states are being fed under the Home-Grown School Feeding Program by 61,352 cooks employed by the scheme.

Under the Social Investment Program,  259,451 loans were  issued through the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Program across 36 states and FCT, out of the 478, 388 eligible beneficiaries whose applications were processed.