Why we’re yet to pay school feeding cooks – FG

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, has explained reasons for the delay in the payment of cooks engaged in the National Homegrown School Feeding Programme (NHSFP).

In a statement signed by the special adviser on media to the ministry, Salisu Dambatta, on Sunday, she said the delay arose from the change of payment process from Remita to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).

The minister further explained that the change would enhance accountability and transparency in public financial management.

Ms Farouq said that once the process is done, the payment for the cooks would begin.

”With the conclusion of migration to GIFMIS, all pending payments will be effected within days,” the minister said.

The statement did not indicate the number of benefiting states that are being owed salaries and the number of months owed.

Remita is an electronic payment platform that enables businesses and individuals to receive and make payments to the government, while the GIFMIS, launched in 2003, is an IT-based system being implemented by the federal government to enhance accountability and transparency in public financial management.

The minister noted that the aggregators in the programme have been paid along with the cooks that were captured by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), while the payment is outstanding for cooks that were not captured by the NBS.

The aggregators are companies contracted by the government to provide proteinous supplements like fish, beef, eggs, fruits and vegetables.

However, it is understood that not all states have the aggregators initiative, some states like Katsina prefer to give their cooks money to buy the foodstuff themselves and cook the food.