Date: 2020-08-10

No fewer than 16,000 people will benefit from the federal government public works programme in Kwara State Vanguard reports

Chairman, Kwara State selection committee for the programme, Oluwasegun Oyewo disclosed this in Ilorin, the state capital yesterday.

Oyewo added that the programme has been carefully designed to be transparent, apolitical and devoid of party affiliation.

He told reporters in Ilorin, the state capital shortly after the commencement of form distribution to beneficiaries in Kwara central senatorial district.

Places visited for the distribution of job forms by the committee in Kwara central include Ogidi, Balogun Fulani and Balogun Gambari in Ilorin West, South and East local government areas and Ogele, Asa local government area among others

Oyewo said, "The selection of the beneficiaries of the federal government public work programme is non-partisan and apolitical. We have coordinators in every local government area of the state.

"They will go to each ward in the every local government and make selections by giving forms to potential beneficiaries. All the forms will be submitted to the state selection committee and the committee as a group will make selection for each council.

"As long as the metrics are met, the programme will be transparent. The metrics include being between ages 18 and 50 and residents of Kwara State.

"100 persons will benefit from every local government area of the state and the state has 16 local government areas. The total number of the beneficiaries in the state is 16,000. So we anticipate that we will get more forms than 16,000. The committee had to ensure that the 16,000 beneficiaries are people that truly deserve the jobs of N20,000 each per month spanning between October and December this year."

The state committee chair assured that all beneficiaries would receive their pay promptly."

He said that "the Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo (SAN) has assured that the funds had been appropriated to pay the beneficiaries and also to implement the projects that have been selected in each local government.

"If you are selected, as long as you come to work, you will get paid. But if you feel that you will not come to work that it is free money, we will remove you and replace you with another person."

At Ogidi ward, Ilorin West, Daudu of Banni, Alh AbdulKarim Oba hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for the kind gesture, saying that "we are grateful to the president for the programme. We want more of this as there are still more widows and jobless youths amongst us."