The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, has announced an indefinite suspension of N-Power amidst alleged corruption in the scheme.
This latest development comes 7 years and 3 months after the social scheme program was launched by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to alleviate the burden of unemployment on the youth.
But Edu, who made this known while speaking in an interview on TVC News on Saturday,
disclosed that the government has begun an investigation into how funds have been used since the inception of the program.
According to her, the decision was necessitated because of some irregularities within the scheme.
She stated that some of the beneficiaries of the scheme do not report to their place of assignment yet expect monthly stipends.
The minister also alleged that some of the current beneficiaries, who are still on the payroll, ought to have exited the program in 2022.
She said, “We must go back to look into N-Power and understand what the problems are, so we will basically suspend the program for now until we are done with a proper investigation into the utilization of funds in the N-Power program.
“We want to know how many people are basically on the program right now, how many people are owed, and the amount they are owed. We are totally restructuring N-Power and expanding it.
“Lots are going on. We met people who are supposed to have exited the program since last year, and they are still claiming that they are still teaching.
“Sometimes we contact the school or the place where they are working and they are not there. They are not working yet, but they keep claiming that they are being owed eight or nine months of stipends.
“About 80 percent of them are not working yet; they are claiming salaries.”
