The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has accused the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs of planning to feed ghost pupils following the decision to proceed with the School Feeding Programme at this period when schools are on an emergency vacation due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The rights group said it, therefore, called on the President of the Senate and Chairman of the national legislative assembly, Ahmed Lawan and the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to halt the sinister attempts to misapply public funds under the guise of feeding Children when it is a universal truism that the Nigerian pupils are not in schools.

HURIWA also noted that millions of these school children may have been relocated from their original residences as a result of the circumstances and inevitable movements have thrown up by the health emergency that was occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic.

“From where do they want to get the pupils to feed whilst the lockdown is in place? Are they going to bring up displaced almajiris as the bonafide pupils or will they as usual manufacture ghosts as pupils?

“These school children have all gone to their homes and millions of these kids may have been relocated to towns other than where they reside with their parents or guardians.”

The group wondered why the current administration is allegedly so incorrigible and resistant to the truth.

HURIWA advised the government to do first things first before pressing on with a muddled up plot to divert public funds under the guise of feeding school children and by the way school children who are not in schools.

The rights group called on Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to question the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs for allegedly pretending to feed school children who are obviously not in session.

HURIWA noted that assuming there are children to be arranged and fed, those are not school children because school children are found in schools and not from all corners of the streets when the schools are understandably on vacation.

HURIWA recalled that Sadiya Farouq had said that the school feeding programme will be implemented despite the closure of schools nationwide even against the factual background that Schools across Nigeria have been closed for about seven weeks to check the spread of COVID-19.

HURIWA said this in a statement to DAILY POST by its National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf.

The group said that even Farouq reportedly admitted before the investigative session organised by Senator Lawan and Speaker Gbajabiamila that she does not have a fuller understanding of the modalities for proceeding with the implementation of the School Feeding Programme when these schools across the Country have since closed down due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

HURIWA said it is completely shocked that the Minister who only a few weeks back told the House of Assembly that she was unaware of how to proceed with the School Feeding Programme, alerted Nigerians yesterday that the programme would go on today (Monday)

The rights group added, “The minister was quoted as saying that talks with state governors to ensure the continuation of the programme, as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari, has commenced.”

HURIWA also expressed disappointment that the ministry was pressing ahead with the programme without first and foremost eradicating the corruption in the system and drawing up a believable and credible data of the genuine beneficiaries of all the segments of the programmes embedded within the Social investment programme.

HURIWA said it strongly believes that if this school feeding programme goes ahead now that school children are scattered all over the place, it is a perfect alibi for massive scale of theft and diversion of public fund by these officials who will simply feed ghost pupils and thereafter siphon the funds.

“We recall that during the last encounter between the National Assembly and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs there were unanimity of positions that the implementation is marred by large scale corruption,” the group added.

The rights group further stated that the “programme will not be credible if it goes on now bearing in mind the fact that even Gbajabiamila confessed that the relevant committees in the House have been complaining bitterly even before the Minister took over the scheme about inability to access information about the scheme just as he said Nigeria’s SIP is similar to the unemployment Insurance Act in the UK and the Social Security Act in the US.

“There is a lot of takeaway from this COVID-19. One of them is the International Best Practices. My point is that these things are backed by law. They are codified by the legislature.”

HURIWA recalled that in his last recorded broadcast on COVID-19 President Muhammadu Buhari had stated thus: “Furthermore, although schools are closed, I have instructed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to work with State Governments in developing a strategy on how to sustain the school feeding program during this period without compromising our social distancing policies”.

HURIWA said it “believes that there are no valid school children to be fed now but the announced intention to proceed with feeding school children who are not in school is a systematic and well choreographed plots to steal public fund by officials of government even going by the fact that the Minister reportedly admitted that the system is not transparent enough during her meeting with the national parliament. This must be stopped,” HURIWA stressed.