AMILOADED MEDIA HUB NEWS UPDATE
More reasons for the indefinite suspension of one of the federal government’s National Social Investment Programme; N-Power have emerged.
N-Power is one of the programmes introduced by the immediate past administration to empower the youth.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu announced the suspension of the programme on Saturday during an interview on television.
Edu, during the interview, said the decision to suspend the programme was due to several flaws within the scheme.
However, in a statement issued on Sunday, October 8, the minister shed more lights on the suspension of the programme.
She stated that findings revealed that some consultants were holding on to beneficiaries’ funds disbursed to them long ago, even when their contract ended in March 2023 without any renewal.
The minister also explained some beneficiaries had other jobs but were still benefiting from the payments, while those who truly worked were not paid.
She also said the programme was suspended because there was need to audit the number of people in the programme, those who have exited the program, those who are being owed, whether they reported to work or not, and how funds have been utilised over the period.
The reasons were contained in a statement signed by the National Programme Manager of N-Power, Dr. Akindele Egbuwalo on behalf of the minister.
The minister also said the programme would be expanded to accommodate 5 million Nigerians in the next five years.
In addition to that, she also said the age bracket of beneficiaries would be reviewed to 18-40 years old as against the former practice where the age limit was 35.
The statement reads: “It is imperative to inform Nigerians, particularly beneficiaries of the N-Power programme across the country, of the temporary suspension of the programme.
“This action has become necessary to give room for a detailed investigation into the operations of the N-Power in the last twelve months.
“The total number of persons enrolled on NPOWER since inception to date is 960,000 people. Most of them have exited from NPower 1.0 and NPower 2.0 batch A and B
“There is a need to audit the number of people in the programme, those who have exited the program, those who are being owed, whether they reported to work or not, and how funds have been utilised over this period of time.
The statement continues: “Recently, we discovered instances of programme beneficiaries whose participation has lapsed since 2022 but have remained on and continue to expect payments from the government. In addition, some beneficiaries must honour their obligation to the programme. They do not report to their places of primary assignments as required but still receive monthly payments. Some have other jobs and have left this bracket but are still benefiting from the payments, while those who truly worked are not paid.
“These instances have made the need for a thorough audit imperative, as we also look into claims of those being owed for up to eight to nine months’ stipends to ascertain the veracity of their claims. The graduates & non-graduate volunteers Batch C1 & C2 are in this category. We want to establish the exact number of people owed and the total amounts, thereby eliminating ghost beneficiaries.”
On what has been uncovered so far, Edu said: “Preliminary findings of our audit have shown that some consultants are holding on to beneficiaries’ funds disbursed to them long ago, even when their contract ended in March 2023 without any renewal.
“We condemn this practice and will not tolerate it going forward. Work is ongoing to identify those involved, understand why the payments didn’t get to the final beneficiaries, and recall the funds to pay those owed.
“We appeal to Nigerians to understand the rationale behind the temporary suspension and investigation of the programme as we work to restore the nation’s confidence in the programme and for the new N-Power to serve Nigerians better.
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