FG Suspends N-Power Programme, Commences Fund Disbursement Investigation

The federal government has ordered the immediate suspension of the ongoing N-Power empowerment scheme. 

The reason for the suspension is to probe the scheme to eliminate ghost workers, remove past participants who are still benefiting from the program, and those who fail to carry out their jobs but are still being paid.

The N-Power scheme which was introduced on June 8, 2016, by the Buhari administration with the goal of "Empowering Nigerian Youths for Prosperity" has had over 960,000 beneficiaries to date. The scheme was created primarily to cushion the rate of unemployment in the country and both graduates and non-graduates have the chance to be trained in different skill acquisition.

According to the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, the scheme is under investigation on its operation in the last twelve months, its audits in its financial operations, and the total active beneficiaries under the program currently.

On this issue, a press release signed by the National Programme Manager, N-Power, Dr. Akindele Egbuwalo on behalf of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu.

THE STATEMENT READS

• It is imperative to inform Nigerians, particularly beneficiaries of the N-Power program across the country, of the temporary suspension of the program.

• 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 in 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 program, those who have exited the program, those who are being owed, whether they reported to work or not, and how funds have been utilized over this period.

• Recently, we discovered instances of program 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 program: 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 the claims of those being owed up to eight to nine months’ stipends to ascertain the veracity of their claims. The graduates and non-graduate volunteers in Batch C1 and C2 are in this category. We want to establish the exact number of people owed and the total amounts, thereby eliminating ghost beneficiaries.

• 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 program as we work to restore the nation’s confidence in the program and for the new N-Power to serve Nigerians better. Things have to be properly done for us to move forward.

• This restructuring and transformation will also birth an expanded program to reach beneficiaries aged 18-40 (the previous age limit was 35). We are targeting 5 million beneficiaries in 5 years at a pace of 1 million per year under the graduate and non-graduate streams.

• In addition, the restructuring will accommodate some new programs, in Education, Health, Works, Agriculture, Technology, fashion, entertainment, and other relevant areas of skill acquisition and employability.

• To earn the confidence of Nigerians in the expanded program, transparency and accountability will be the benchmark. It shall no longer be business as usual as we make concerted efforts to put the nation on the right footing, ensuring that no one directly or indirectly unleashes suffering on Nigerians.

• We assure all beneficiaries with genuine claims that we will resolve their cases once we complete the verification exercise and honour all valid outstanding obligations. Nobody will be owed.

The federal government pleaded with Nigerians to support the suspension of the program as it will bring about restoration and confidence in the program. The government also made it known that those who have been having payment issues will be settled as part of the investigation.