The House of Representatives has opened a fresh inquiry into the funds reportedly recovered by the federal government from the National Social Investment Programme Agency. Lawmakers say the probe is intended to establish the status of the money, identify who currently controls it, and determine why it has not been released to the relevant agencies responsible for running the nation’s social investment schemes.
The decision followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Saidu Abdullahi of Niger State during Tuesday’s plenary. He warned that the delay in releasing the recovered funds has stalled key programmes under the Social Investment Programme, including N-Power, Conditional Cash Transfer, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, and the Home-Grown School Feeding Initiative.
NSIPA’s operations were halted in 2024 after allegations of financial misconduct led to the suspension of former minister Betta Edu and the agency’s chief executive, Halima Shehu. The House had repeatedly urged the federal government to unfreeze the NSIPA account and restart the schemes, but full operations have not resumed.
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Abdullahi told lawmakers that more than N30 billion had been recovered through federal investigations, yet none of it had been credited to the agency’s Treasury Single Account. He said the absence of these funds has blocked programme implementation and denied millions of Nigerians the economic support the schemes were created to provide. In his view, the delay has weakened small enterprises, strained families in both rural and urban communities, slowed local economic activity, and damaged public confidence in the government’s commitments.
He added that the uncertainty surrounding the location and custodial status of the recovered money poses fiscal concerns and disrupts timelines for social intervention projects. This challenge persists despite the presidential directive lifting the suspension on NSIPA’s operations on January 21, 2025.
The motion received unanimous support when Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu called for a voice vote. The House agreed to set up an ad hoc committee to meet with the relevant agencies and secure a full account of the recovered funds, marking the latest step in the effort to revive Nigeria’s stalled social investment programmes.
