The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Professor Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, has justified his ministry’s allocation of over N300 million for furniture in its 2025 budget proposal.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV’s The Morning Show on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, Yilwatda explained that the expenditure was necessitated by the creation of new agencies under his ministry and the need to equip their offices.
When questioned about the justification for such spending in light of the nation’s economic challenges, the minister clarified that the funds were earmarked for furnishing newly allocated offices, including his ministry’s own relocated office.
“We have new agencies that are coming up that have no accommodation before, like NSIPA and some of the agencies that we have,” Yilwatda explained. “They don’t have offices before. So, we are moving them to a new location as we are asking for new offices to be given to them. Even my ministry has been moved from where it is now; it has been relocated to the Ministry of Communications. We are moving to another floor different from the one allocated to us.
“They’ve allocated a new set of offices to the ministry, so, we are refurnishing those new offices, and then NSIPA, which is a new agency under us, we are also going to furnish those places. That’s the reason why we have to bring some figures for furniture.”
Despite this, Yilwatda reassured Nigerians that the vast majority of the ministry’s budget would be directed towards public welfare.
The minister emphasised that over 99% of the budget is allocated for programmes that directly benefit Nigerians, such as school feeding initiatives, cash transfers, and grants for vulnerable populations. He revealed that more than N500 billion has been dedicated to these critical projects.
Yilwatda was appointed as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development in October 2024 by President Bola Tinubu, following the suspension of his predecessor, Beta Edu, over allegations of financial misappropriation.
