PRESS STATEMENT ON THE ONGOING AUDIT AND TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF N-POWER PROGRAM
It is imperative to inform Nigerians,
particularly beneficiaries of the N-Power programme across the country, of the
temporary suspension of the programme.
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 on enrolled on NPOWER since inception to
date is 960,000 people. Most of them have exited from NPower 1.0 and NPower 2.0
There is a need to audit the number of people in
the programme, those who have exited the program, those who are being owed,
whether the reported to work or not and how funds have been utilised over this
period of time.
Recently, we discovered instances of programme
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 programme: They do not report
to their places of primary assignments as required but still receive monthly
payments.
These instances have made the need for a thorough
audit imperative, as we also look into claims of those being owed for up to
eight to nine months' stipends to ascertain the veracity of their claims. The
graduates & non-graduate volunteers Batch C1 & 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 programme as
we work to restore the nation's confidence in the programme 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 programme 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 stream.
In addition, the restructuring will accommodate
some new programmes, 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 programme, 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.
Dr. Akindele Egbuwalo
National Programme Manager
N-Power for
Honorable Minister of Humanitarian affairs and Poverty alleviation