>
The Programme Manager of National Homegrown School feeding Programme (NHGSFP) in Nasarawa State has been suspended, following the discovery that he had been inserting fake schools and cooks into the programme in the state.
According to the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADMSD),the programme manager, name witheld, was collecting huge sums for non-existing students and vendors.
The ministry, in statement made available to newsmen by one of the NHGSFP Monitoring Lead, Marcus Williams, said the fraud was discovered through the active monitoring of the project’s task team, adding that the Programme Manager was apprehended and reported to the governor of the Ssate.
William added that the state governor, Engr. Abdullahi Sule, has suspended the programme manager and referred the matter to law enforcement agencies, adding that investigation is ongoing.
Williams lamented that despite the offence, preliminary findings revealed that some members of the Nassarawa State Government are allegedly trying to reinstate the suspended programme manager, noting that FMHADMSD resisted the move and requested for certificate of clearance from law enforcement agencies.
“We want to state that FMHADMSD discovered the fraud and not Nasarawa State Government as being projected in the media, and the suspect has not been reinstated.
“A new Permanent Secetrary has been appointed by the Nasarawa State Government, the suspect deprived genuine beneficiaries their right to nutrition and education thereby violating this right as enshrined in the CRL of Nasarawa State 2005,” Williams said.
He, however, urged people to support Federal Government’s efforts of through FMHADMSD to give children the best education and nutritional support by reporting any comprise, fraud, and misrepresentation of the NHGSFP.