The Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday unanimously expressed resolve towards ensuring increased funding for the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction in the bid to tackle the menace of poverty and other humanitarian crises across the country.
The lawmakers gave the assurance in Abuja during the Ministry’s 2024 budget performance and 2025 budget proposal, which was presented by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, who underscored the need for adequate budgetary provisions in view of international donors’ resolve to focus on Sudan, the Middle East, and Ukraine.
Speaking during the budget defence held separately at the instance of the Senate Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Investment, chaired by Senator Idiat Adebule, and Chairman of the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Abdulkadir Jobe, the Minister reeled out robust plans to tackle myriad humanitarian crises and poverty across the country.
In his remarks, Hon. Jobe showered encomium on the immediate past Permanent Secretary, Mr Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan, for the exemplary leadership provided during the absence of a substantive Minister.
He said: “I must commend Mr Abel Olumuyiwa, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary who is now re-deployed to the Ministry of Education, for his commitment and dedication to his job.
“He (Enitan) was always available to the Committee to answer questions and enquiries or provide information to the Committee in the absence of a Minister. We wish him success in his new office, and we extend the Committee’s goodwill to the new Permanent Secretary, Dr Yakubu Adam Kofar Mata.”
While responding to a question bothering on the non-implementation of the 5,000 Vulnerable Nigerians, the Minister assured that efforts will be intensified to get Mr President’s approval for the release of the sum of N3.7 billion approved in the 2024 Appropriation Act as a grant to 5,000 Vulnerable Groups domiciled with Access Bank for onward disbursement to the beneficiaries.
According to the Minister, the Ministry’s 2025 overhead ceiling was increased from the sum of N682,682,013 in 2024 to the sum of N978,386,116.00 in 2025, representing a 43.31% increase above the 2024 budget with a view to cushioning the effect of inflation.
“Conversely, the capital budget ceiling of N4,601,092,674.00 will not be able to address the ever-increasing humanitarian challenges, to reduce poverty, and address acute malnutrition.
“It is worth noting that global humanitarian support from donor countries has dropped, and most donors are targeting the Middle East, Sudan, and Ukraine. In addition, the HRP is targeting only the BAY states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe.
“The National Assembly should also note that the Ministry has a mandate to create 2 million jobs in 2025. This will be achieved through a combination of efforts: The ministry has already procured starter packs that will enable over 110,000 beneficiaries to embark on self-reliant ventures. These starter packs are vital tools for entrepreneurship and economic growth.
“However, to ensure the success of these programmes, we require N55 billion funds to conduct a 2-week intensive training for all beneficiaries, payment of resource persons, and logistics funding to facilitate the effective distribution of the starter packs at N45,000 per beneficiary.
“There is a need for monitoring and evaluation to ensure the transparency and sustainability of these initiatives at N5,000 per beneficiary.
“Additionally, we need to train 50,000 unemployed graduates and non-graduates under our Skill2Wealth Initiative, which seeks to create nano, micro, and small-scale businesses and will focus on connecting unemployed youth to the private sector, provide them with starter packs, and link them to market opportunities to foster sustainable employment. This will cost N50 billion (at N1,000,000 per beneficiary: covering training in all the 36 states and FCT, starter pack, linkage to the market, and M&E).”
The Minister also stressed the need to create a budget line for a Humanitarian Response Fund of N10 billion for communities affected by climate-change-related disasters, conflicts, and man-made crises, including flooding, fire outbreaks, and insurgency attacks that have displaced thousands.
In the same vein, he solicited another budget line of N15 billion for durable solutions for households affected by disaster in 2024.
According to him, an additional sum of N130 billion is required by the Ministry as an Intervention Fund to resolve these humanitarian and poverty reduction challenges across the country in 2025.
The Minister, who was accompanied by the National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Mr Gbadamosi Lawan, also solicited the amendment of the NSIPA Act with a view to addressing some of the gaps that may hamper effective operations of the Agency, especially in the area of funding such as recurrent expenditure.
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