No going back on N5,000 stipends to unemployed, others, says APC

 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has assured Nigerians that it will not renege on its campaign promise to pay N5,000 each to 25 million vulnerable Nigerians. The assurance is contained in a statement the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, issued in Abuja, on Friday. The failure by the Senate on Wednesday to pass a resolution urging the ruling party to fulfil the campaign promise to unemployed youths has generated controversy.

Chief Olisa Metuh, Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) National Publicity Secretary, while reacting to the event at the Senate, had said that the senators opposed to the motion acted APC’s script. APC’s statement said that it had devised creative means to fulfil its electioneering promises, including payment of social security allowance to the unemployed. "The non-implementation of the payment policy so far is due to the fact that it was not included in the 2015 budget. "The Muhammadu Buhari administration has been busy putting in place measures that will make it possible to start the implementation of this project. Such measures include the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA). "We are happy to inform Nigerians that as of the end of September, 2015, over N1.4 trillion which hitherto was lying unproductive in various commercial banks has been recovered,” it said, adding that the money had been lodged in the TSA. The statement said that the present administration was poised to embark on a massive infrastructure renewal programme. According to it, a $2.5 billion (about N495 billion) Infrastructure Fund was being put in place for the programme that would focus on roads, railway and power. "The Buhari administration is poised to lift millions of Nigerians out of extreme poverty by providing social protection and safety nets," the party said.