774,000 jobs scheme successful, beneficiaries paid N40bn – Keyamo

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, on Friday, said the Special Public Works Scheme initiated by the federal government was successful.

In a statement issued by his media aide, Tunde Moshood, the minister said about 90 per cent of the 774,000 beneficiaries of the scheme have been paid over N40 billion so far across the nation.

Reacting to the plan by the House of Representatives Committees on Youths, Labour, Finance and Appropriations to investigate the alleged failure of the scheme, Keyamo said the Presidential Youth Empowerment Scheme was what the lower chamber intends to probe.

He explained that the P-YES programme was not under his purview.

“In the said report, the House of Representatives Committee on Youths, Labour, Finance and Appropriations was said to have been mandated to “carry out a probe into the non-implementation of the scheme”, after a motion moved by Honourable Gudaji Kazaure on the ‘Call to investigate the Presidential Youth Empowerment Scheme,” the statement read.

It continued, “However, the Scheme referred to by Hon. Kazaure is not the Special Public Works Scheme under the supervision of Festus Keyamo, SAN, but a totally different Scheme called the P-Yes under the supervision of a different Ministry/Minister. Hence, the story is a misrepresentation of facts.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Extended Special Public Works programme has been successfully implemented by the National Directorate of Employment under the supervision of the Honourable Minister of State, Labour and Employment. The Honourable Minister is not directly or remotely in charge of the P-YES programme.

“The report of the alleged investigation into the Special Public Works Programme is therefore not just misleading but loaded with misinformation at the same time.

“The article which ties the Extended Special Public Works Programme with the Presidential Youths Empowerment Scheme, P-Yes is purely a figment of the imagination of its purveyors.

“The Extended Special Public Works Programme under the supervision of the Honourable Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, SAN has been implemented successfully with about 90% of the 774,000 ESPW participants engaged by the scheme across the nation successfully paid with over N40 billion so far”, the statement concluded.