The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Investments, Maryam Uwais says that administration has been spending recovered looted funds by the late former head of state, General Sani Abacha, on lifting poor Nigerians from poverty.
Maryam Uwais stated this while speaking at an event organized by the Human-Environmental Development Agenda in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, on Monday, October 21.
This is coming few days after Uwais claimed that Buhari’s government has been paying N5,000 monthly to poor Nigerians through the National Cash Transfer initiative.
According to her, between August/September 2018 and September/October payment 2019, the total cumulative amount disbursed from the Abacha loot is $76,538,530 and $27,099,028 from the International Development Association (IDA) credit.
“The funds are specifically being disbursed to beneficiaries of the national cash transfer programme (a component of the National Social Investment Programme N-SIP).”
“The gesture is positively changing the fortunes of many Nigerians who find themselves below the poverty line, based on the data collated in the communities and hosted on the national social register.”
Uwais said the decision to distribute the Abacha loot and IDA funds to poor and vulnerable citizens was reached by the Swiss government, World Bank and the federal government of Nigeria.
“In December 2014, a Swiss judge gave a forfeiture order to the effect that monies (322.5 million dollars) recovered from the family of the late General Abacha would be returned to Nigeria.
“One of the conditions being that, the World Bank would be involved in monitoring disbursements there from,” she said adding that the needs of the people should be taken into consideration in the efforts to tackle poverty in the country.”
