FG suspends N-Power programme indefinitely

The Federal Government (FG) has announced the indefinite suspension of the N-Power programme.

This was disclosed by Betta Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, while featuring on a TVC news program on Saturday.

She said the decision was birthed by some irregularities within the scheme, noting that the government has launched an investigation into the utilization of funds since the program began.

The Minister claimed that some of the beneficiaries are not found in their place of assignment yet they expect monthly stipends.

According to her, some of the beneficiaries ought to have exited the program since 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 basically suspend the programme for now until we are done with proper investigation into the utilization of fund 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 were 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 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”.