The lawmaker representing Delta North in the Senate, Ned Nwoko has disclosed that Nigeria has money but fails to redistribute it to the poor and needy.
Ned Nwoko said the problem of Nigeria is not money but managing the money to address issues of poverty, hunger and unemployment affecting the citizens.
He stated this in an interview on Tuesday with Arise TV.
He emphasized that there was need for President Bola Tinubu to implement the National Social Security Agency he suggested and scrap the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.
He suggested a 5% deduction from the federation account to be domiciled for the poor and needy in the agency. He added that 5% should be deducted from the income of all employed Nigerians.
Senator Nwoko explained that the money would be domiciled with the National Social Security Agency.
He said the agency through the fund would be paying poor and needy monthly salaries.
Nwoko noted that hunger, poverty and insecurity would be solved through the process.
“People think that we don’t have money in Nigeria but we do have money in Nigeria. All I’m talking about is that there should be some redistribution of this money.
“If you’re taking 5% from this first-line charge from the federation account where money is shared every month to the local government, states and federal government; you just take 5% of that money at source and put into that particular fund, then every worker across board whoever you are you also contribute 5% of your income.
“Then all other businesses, I’m looking at some kind of a plan that is meant to serve some very difficult problems. If we take those contributions and put in the fund, we are redistributing the funds.
“If we have those steady income going into the fund that is managed not through any ministry, directly under the presidency who wants to achieve some result, who wants to make a difference, the money will be there and then people stop blaming chairman, they stop blaming governors, they stop blaming the president because the money will be there for those class of people that need money.
“They need money to survive as I said before. Look, put it this way, if at the end of every week some guy who is disabled or somebody who is unemployed gets I don’t know ₦50,000 or ₦100,000, at least, you know, you caught down on the possibility of frauds and the possibility of crime.
“When people know that someone is coming, they wait. They won’t become desperate as to steal or become involved in crime or whatever it is; they know it’s intact.”
Nwoko explained that the fund would also help retirees who contributed during active service to have access to monthly income.
He added that employees who contributed to the fund when sacked from work would also benefit from the fund.
The Delta North Senator explained that the fund would help in managing internally displaced persons and victims of natural disasters.
Speaking further, Nwoko said: “Take for example, when you have displaced people in various camps, they have no means of surviving other than just those handouts. If people have their expected income every week and there’s a problem in a particular area, they can easily leave that area, go to another area, because they have their credit card, and they know that that money is coming at the end of every week.
“They don’t have to be clustered in somewhere where they are treated like animals. If you lose work, you can go to the agency and be paid.”