Nigeria Suspends Unemployment Scheme N-Power Indefinitely, Begins Investigation

Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu has announced that the federal government had suspended the N-Power programme indefinitely.
The N-Power programme was launched by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to address the issue of youth unemployment and help increase social development.
But speaking in an interview on a television programme on Saturday, Edu said the indefinite suspension became necessary because of some irregularities within the scheme.

The minister said the government had launched an investigation into the utilisation of funds since the inception of the programme.
She stated that some of the beneficiaries are not found in their place of assignment, yet they expect monthly stipends.
The minister said some of the beneficiaries ought to have exited the programme in 2022 but are still on the payroll.
She said: “We must go back to look into N-Power and understand what the problems are, so, we will suspend the programe for now until we are done with a proper investigation into the utilisation of funds into the N-Power program.

“We want to know how many persons are basically on the programme right now, how many persons are owed, and the amount they are owed. We are totally restructuring N-Power and expanding it.
“There are lots going on. We met people who were supposed to have exited the programme last year and they are still 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 per cent of them are not working yet they are claiming salaries,” Edu added.

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

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