President Bola Tinubu has established a special panel to investigate the National Social Investment Programmes, previously overseen by the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu. The announcement was made by Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale on Saturday evening.
The statement reveals that President Tinubu assigned the panel, headed by Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, to conduct a comprehensive audit of the programs that had been suspended earlier. The panel’s primary task is to review existing financial frameworks and policy guidelines of the social investment programmes, with the aim of implementing a complete restructuring of the financial architecture. This includes detailed modifications to the procedures governing the programs’ implementation in the future.
The Special Presidential Panel is composed of ministers representing strategic sectors to ensure a multi-disciplinary approach to the reform effort. The panel members include the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance as Chairman, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, and the Minister of State for Youth.
President Tinubu expects that the Special Presidential Panel will restore public confidence in the National Social Investment Programmes by ushering in a new era of operation based on open and accountable governance frameworks, designed to prevent abuse and incompetence for the exclusive benefit of disadvantaged households across the nation.