The Federal Government, on Saturday, suspended the N-Power programme indefinitely, owing to some irregularities within the scheme, adding that an investigation has been launched into the utilisation of funds since the program began.
Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, who made this known while featuring on a TVC news program, said that some of the beneficiaries are not found in their place of assignments, yet they expect monthly stipends.
Edu said some beneficiaries should have exited the program since 2022 but are still on the payroll.
“We must go back to look into N-Power and understand what the problems are, so we will basically suspend the program for now until we are done with proper investigation into the utilisation 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 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 on, 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,” she said.