Barely three months after the commencement of the Federal Governments Special Public Works, (SPW), the programme has become enmeshed in controversy over unpaid salary.
The SPW is a temporary social intervention initiated by the government to provide stop-gap three months jobs for 774000 persons, mainly artisans, to earn N20,000 monthly doing public works. One thousand youths were employed from each of the 774 local governments in the country as beneficiaries, bringing the figure to 774,000 councils.
The programme was inaugurated on January 5. The first batch of beneficiaries have completed their assignment without being paid. President Muhammadu Buhari on March 20 directed the release of funds to pay the stipends. Minister of State for Labour and Employment Festus Keyamo (SAN) hours after, directed the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), the Federal Government agency driving the programme, to start processing the payment plan.
Keyamo, in his official Twitter handle, (@fkeyamo, assured the participants that they would soon receive alerts of payment. However, twenty-two days after, no payment has been made. Some of the participants at the weekend took to Keyamos Twitter handle to protest the delay in paying their stipend more than three months after kick-off. One of them described the Federal Government as heartless for failing to pay them their stipend.
The NDE Acting Director-General, Abubakar Fikpo, in his reaction, said the delay in payment of the participants salary was caused by verification of BVN, adding that this was being done to forestall double payment to individuals.
