SaharaReporters gathered that for instance, the humanitarian minister appointed Abdulaziz Danladi, a former member of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly and younger brother to the Minister of State, Police Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, as the national coordinator of the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO).
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, has withdrawn the social intervention programmes from professionals handling them and handed them over to politicians including the younger brother of a colleague minister, SaharaReporters has learnt.
SaharaReporters gathered that for instance, the humanitarian minister appointed Abdulaziz Danladi, a former member of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly and younger brother to the Minister of State, Police Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, as the national coordinator of the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO).
Two weeks ago, the ministry had rolled out the appointments according to a release, saying it was in line with President Bola Tinubu's directive to restructure the Social Safety Net Programme to address the expanded mandate of the ministry.
“The appointed persons will join her team in implementing President Bola Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda aimed at providing succour to those affected by humanitarian crises and eradicate multi-dimensional poverty In Nigeria:
“National Coordinator NASSCO - Hon Abdulaziz Danladi; National Cash Transfer Office NCTO Head of office - Dr Micheal Ajuluchukwu; NCTO Deputy Head of Office - Dr Janet Ekpenyong; National Programme Manager,Youth Empowerment Empowerment and Social Support Operations (YESSO) - Richard Romanus; National Communication manager NSIP - Hon Jamalu Kaburu; National Programme Manager, Renewed Hope Shelter Programme for Refugees ,Poor and Internally Displaced Persons - Hon Chidinma Makuachukwu,” the release read partly.
Insiders at the ministry told SaharaReporters on Saturday that the humanitarian minister, Betta compensated her fellow minister, Imaan for “taking” the Ministry from her by appointing her younger brother as national coordinator of NASSCO.
“He (Danladi) was a member of the Nasarawa state house of assembly but lost the primaries last year and defected to another party but he is now back as NASSCO coordinator.
“The humanitarian minister completely withdrew the social intervention programmes from professionals with tenured appointment and handed over to politicians. The programmes are finally confined to a bed of failure,” the source said.
Weeks ago, the ministry had announced that it would include pupils of military schools across the country in the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP).
The minister, Edu, had said this during her recent visit to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar in Abuja.
She had said, “We would actually be rejigging this programme, so we are coming up with more innovative ways of providing these services to Nigerians.
"Because we have malnutrition as an issue for us to manage, we want to concentrate on it so that pupils from class one to five can benefit.
"We will step it all the way down to bring in more efficiency to the programme, it will be all-encompassing and that is another avenue that we can partner.”
But with the removal of professionals and appointment of political associates to key positions, insiders in the ministry think that the programmes might have already hit the rocks.