YOMMY AYILARA
NASS Leaders, Humanitarian Affairs Minister Meet Over COVID-19 Lockdown
The leadership of the National Assembly has met with the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouk, in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The meeting’s purpose is to find ways to reduce the effect of the lockdown order given by President Muhammadu Buhari on Nigerians following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
The NASS leaders had earlier invited the Minister to brief them on the efforts of the Federal Government to protect the vulnerable members of the society amid the spread of the virus.
Senate President Ahmed Lawan at the meeting on Tuesday called for a review of the strategy used at the National Social Investment Program in disbursing funds to poor households across the country.
He raised the suggestion that identifying the poor and vulnerable in the society can be a bit difficult as he believes that the poor have not been sufficiently reached out to.
He also asked the Minister to explain how the ministry intends to distribute food and materials to them going forward.
Responding, the Humanitarian Minister, Umar-Farouk, said she is yet to figure out how the Home Grown School Feeding Program works and admits that there are intrigues surrounding the program.
She, however, did not reveal what these intrigues are.
The Minister also said the monies disbursed for the conditional cash transfer to poor households so far are the loans from World Bank.
