Only NDE can implement 774,000 jobs scheme, N/Assembly insists

The National Assembly on Tuesday said the implementation of the 774,000 jobs scheme remained under the purview of the National Directorate of Employment.

It asked the Minister of State for Labour, Employment and Productivity, Festus Keyamo, to recuse himself from the implementation of the 774,000 special works scheme.

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Keyamo had been at loggerheads with the federal lawmakers over who should control the implementation of the programme.

The National Assembly said the N52bn was appropriated for the NDE to implement the programme.

It therefore urged the ministry to stick to its supervisory role.

The Senate, in its resolution following a motion by Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, said “The appropriation of 52 billion for the 774,000 public works scheme is vested in the NDE and therefore must be implemented accordingly, while acknowledging the supervisory role of Ministry of Labour, Employment and Productivity.”

Senate President Ahmad Lawan said the National Assembly still stood on the fact and the law that NDE is entirely responsible for the implementation of the programme.

“The ministry has supervisory role and the National Assembly has the oversight function,” Lawan said.

The Senate said it reversed its earlier position suspending the implementation of the programme because of the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Briefing reporters after plenary, the Senate spokesperson, Senator Ajibola Basiru, said the lawmakers now insisted that constitution be respected in implementing the scheme.

In the House of Representatives, Deputy Minority Leader Toby Okechukwu, in his motion, said “since the Executive proposed this programme, it could have clearly named the Ministry of Labour, not the NDE, as the implementing authority in the 2020 budget if it so wished.

He said the house wanted to prevent any mischief, wastage of scarce public resources, lack of accountability and defeat of the aims and objectives of the Special Public Works programme.

The house called on the Ministry of Finance not to release any funds for the implementation of the Special Public Works programme if that will breach the due process, Appropriation Act 2020 (As Amended) as well as the NDE Act.