Federal Government of Nigeria has suspended the N-Power programme indefinitely.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu announced the indefinite suspension of the programme during an interview with TVC News on Saturday.
Edu explained that several flaws within the scheme birthed the decision to suspend the programme.
According to the Minister, a probe into how the money has been used since the program’s inception has already kick-started.
Edu said that some of the beneficiaries are not found in their place of assignment yet they expect monthly stipends.
She noted that some of the beneficiaries should have left the programme in 2022 but are still on the payroll.
The Minister said, “We must go back to look into N-Power and understand what the problems are so we will basically suspend the programe for now until we are done with proper investigation into the utilisation of funds into the N-Power program.
“We want to know how many persons are basically on the program right now, how many persons are owed, amount they are owed. We are totally restructuring the N-Power and expanding it.
“There are lots going on. We met people who are supposed to have exited the program since last year and they are still on claiming that they are still teaching.
“Sometimes we contact the school or the places where they are working and they are not there. They are not working yet they keep claiming that they are being owed eight or nine months stipends.
“About 80 percent of them are not working yet they are claiming salaries.”
The N-Power Program was introduced by administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to combat youth unemployment and promote social development.
