FG to spend N500bn on social welfare programme to cater to poor Nigerians in 2016

President Muhammadu Buhari in a proposal that was contained in the 2016-2018 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, which he sent to the National Assembly on Tuesday, stated that he is proposing to spend N500bn on a social welfare program that will cater for the needs of youths and other “vulnerable” groups in 2016. Buhari wrote a letter to Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, and another one to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, which were read to members in their respective chambers. The social welfare programme would be executed in phases and it would also take care of the school feeding programme initiative as well as the “conditional cash transfer to the most vulnerable and a post-NYSC grant” but did not categorically say whether it was meant to implement his administration’s promise to pay each unemployed person in the country N5, 000 monthly. The president stated that the relief welfare programe willstart next year as a pilot scheme and that his government would work towards securing the support of donor agencies and development partners in order to minimise potential risks. The proposal stated:

Government will institute policies to ensure that our students learn skills and provide funds and equipment that will make them self-employed upon graduation. This will be supported by a post NYSC grant,

The House took the decision as soon as Dogara read the President’s letter to members.
The House agreed that the proposal was very important and urgent and that the clerk would circulate copies of the MTEF and FSP to all members in preparation for the debate today.