Keyamo Reacts To Senate’s Probe On Creation Of 774,000 Jobs

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has said there was no corruption in the employment of 774,000 people in the Special Public Works (SPW) scheme.

Keyamo was reacting to the Senate Committee on Public Account’s plan to probe into the scheme after lawmakers complained that nobody from their constituents was part of the beneficiaries.

During a sitting on Wednesday, the committee gave the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) two weeks to submit a comprehensive report of all beneficiaries across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Naija News recalls that Keyamo had in May 2020 said the programme was targeted at creating jobs for 774,000 Nigerians with a mandate of recruiting 1000 citizens from each LGA across the country.

The minister added that about 10 percent of the 774,000 jobs will be allocated to political office holders in the country.

During an appearance before the lawmakers on June 30, 2020, the minister said they were trying to blackmail him and hijack the SPW programme.

However, in a chat with TheCable on Thursday, Keyamo stated that the beneficiaries of the scheme are Nigerians and not aliens or foreigners.

The minister, therefore, said the NDE will provide reports and processes of the SPW scheme to the lawmakers for verification, adding that the programme has achieved all its set goals.

He said: “I think they have asked the NDE to produce the register, so, they should wait. Can they conclude before seeing the register? they gave two weeks, the response would be made available to everyone including the press.

“The NDE will give every piece of evidence, so, follow it up with the NDE, they are there to give all the reports, all the processes, so follow it up on the committee so we don’t talk outside the committee.

“There was no corruption at all. When you go there, they will make everything available. The people who were chosen are Nigerians too, they’re not from the moon, and they are not from Cameroon. So, it will be made available to everybody, so just follow it up from there. The NDE is in charge, they will include every piece of evidence and all the documents.”

The SPW scheme is a federal government intervention programme coordinated by the NDE as part of the efforts to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on citizens.