The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has described President Bola Tinubu’s Social Intervention Programme as a “big scam” and an “organised racket” run for the benefit of government officials, not the poor.
In a statement on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party cited findings by the Auditor-General of the Federation that N33.75 billion in cash transfers to 3.29 million households cannot be verified.
The ADC said the development confirms what Nigerians have long suspected about corruption in the programme.
The party recalled that at the start of the Tinubu administration, N585 million was allegedly wired to a private account under former Minister Betta Edu before she was suspended.
It also noted that N44 billion reportedly went missing from the National Social Investment Programme Agency under Halima Shehu.
“Let us call this what it is. Not mismanagement. Not an oversight. It is an organised racket… They are stealing from the poor and telling them to continue to endure hardship,” the statement said.
“Let us call this what it is. Not mismanagement. Not an oversight. It is an organised racket, which this government has run under the guise of a social intervention programme. They are stealing from the poor and telling them to continue to endure hardship.
“At the time, the government made a show of suspending her. Now she is back on the President’s campaign council.
“This latest report of an unaccounted N33.75 billion intervention fund, buried inside a larger N78 billion fund, and the historical pattern of corruption that has trailed this kind of programme would suggest that this government has found a way to steal from the poor by turning the social intervention programme into a criminal enterprise,” it added.
The party emphasised that instead of the federal government addressing the wanton corruption associated with such interventions in the past, it has announced an even bigger package of $1 billion without demonstrating that it has made any effort to ensure greater transparency and accountability
