Humanitarian minister Sadiya Umar Farouq has pledged to support the ICPC in its investigation of alleged fraud in the N-Power Programme.

Ms Farouq also assured beneficiaries of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), especially the N-Power, that despite allegations of fraud, the ministry was committed to continuity.

This is contained in a statement signed by the ministry’s permanent secretary, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, on Wednesday.

She said the ministry’s attention was brought to a recent publication regarding ongoing investigations concerning fraud allegations in the programme.

“The ministry has deployed a well-rounded mechanism for the selection of eligible beneficiaries from across the country, adding that this has been in place since the inception of the programme. Working with our service provider, programme beneficiaries are onboarded, trained and deployed to pre-selected places of primary assignment,” the minister explained.

Ms Farouq added, “When it came to our notice that there may have been sharp practices by some personnel of the Payment Service Provider (PSP) involved in the payment processes of beneficiaries, the matter was immediately referred to ICPC for a thorough investigation.”

She noted that she was aware that “certain persons have consequently been invited as part of the ongoing investigations” and commended the ICPC for the “remarkable job they are doing to address the issue of alleged fraud discovered in the N-Power programme.”

However, to ensure transparency and accountability in implementing N-Power and other NSIPs, Ms Farouq revealed that the ministry had involved other MDAs, security agencies and civil society organisations in monitoring and compliance checks across 36 states.

(NAN)