House of Reps Tells Tinubu to Direct Minister of Finance to Unfreeze NSIPA Accounts, Resume N-Power Payments within 72hrs

The House of Representatives has called on President Bola Tinubu to direct the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to unfreeze the accounts of the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA) within 72 hours. The resolution followed a motion led by Deputy Speaker Ben Kalu and 31 other lawmakers during Tuesday’s plenary session.

The lawmakers emphasized the importance of NSIPA’s programmes, urging the government to release funds for the immediate payment of stipends owed to 395,731 N-Power beneficiaries across the country. They also called for the removal of administrative bottlenecks hindering NSIPA’s operations, tasking the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management to ensure the smooth functioning of the agency.

The suspension of NSIPA programmes dates back to January, when President Tinubu restructured the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. As part of the overhaul, the former minister, Betta Edu, and NSIPA’s CEO, Halima Shehu, were suspended. The president announced a six-week suspension of NSIPA’s four core initiatives—N-Power, Conditional Cash Transfer, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, and the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme. A six-member ministerial committee, led by Finance Minister Wale Edun, was tasked with reviewing the agency’s operations.

In March, the committee recommended transferring NSIPA from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to the Ministry of Finance. While the president has yet to make an official pronouncement on the matter, he has appointed a new minister for humanitarian affairs and submitted a bill to amend the NSIPA Act to the National Assembly.

During the motion, Deputy Speaker Ben Kalu underscored the significance of NSIPA’s programmes in advancing the government’s poverty eradication agenda. He attributed the suspension to allegations of financial mismanagement, which led to frozen accounts and investigations by anti-corruption and security agencies.

The motion was unanimously supported by the House when put to a voice vote by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen. The resolution will also be transmitted to the Senate for concurrence.

While the lawmakers set a 72-hour deadline for compliance, it remains unclear what steps they might take if the executive fails to act. In similar situations, such ultimatums have often gone unheeded without further action by the legislature.