The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has said that the federal government is yet to disburse the N7.3 billion to the remaining beneficiaries of the government’s 774, 000 Special Public Works Programme.
Keyamo during budget defence in Abuja organised by the Senate Committee on Labour and Employment for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) attributed the delay to bank issues and promised that the ministry would ensure that the funds were disbursed before the end of December.
“Why we insisted on certain banks was because of the auditing process, but the ministry has opened up the process whereby beneficiaries could use any bank in their locality,” he said.
The programme was introduced in October 2019, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval, and is domiciled in the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).
It seeks to address the problem of unemployment across the country, especially in the rural areas, thus making the unemployed youth more useful to themselves and society.
Under the programme, beneficiaries are to be paid N20, 000 a month for three months.
