The The federal government has suspended the N-Power programme which was earlier initiated by the past administration for graduates.
Announcing the suspension, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu disclosed during an interview with TVC News.
Edu revealed that the decision to suspend the programme was birthed by several flaws within the scheme.
The Minister added that a government:s probe into how the money has been used since the program’s inception has already kick-started.
She said that some of the beneficiaries are not found in their place of assignment yet they expect monthly stipends.
Some of the beneficiaries, according to the Minister, should have left the programme in 2022 but are still on the payroll.
According to her:: “We must go back to look into N-Power and understand what the problems are so we will suspend the program for now until we are done with proper investigation into the utilization 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, the amount they are owed. We are restructuring the N-Power and expanding it.
“Lots are going on. We met people who were supposed to have exited the program 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.”
Recall that the N-Power Program was introduced by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to combat youth unemployment and promote social development.
Credit: The Nation