Following suspension of the N-Power programme, the federal government says it will open an investigation into the operations of the social intervention initiative’s past administrators.

In a statement issued on Sunday by the humanitarian ministry, the government said the action was to give room for a detailed investigation into the operations of the programme in the last twelve months.

“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 enrolled on NPOWER since inception to date is 960,000 people. Most of them have exited from NPower 1.0 and NPower 2.0 batch A and B.”

Peoples Gazette had reported in a detailed analysis last month in which it highlighted the irregularities perpetrated by administrators of the programme in the last administration.

The report further urged the new humanitarian minister, Beta Edu, to probe the activities of her predecessor, Sadiya Farouq, whose time experts say was rife with irregularities and grand corruption.

The N-Power initiative is Nigeria’s work-for-cash social assistance programme. It was launched in 2016 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, and has thousands of direct beneficiaries working in the programme’s primary target industries: agriculture, health, education, and tax.

The ministry said it found instances whereby participants of the programme whose enrollment has lapsed since 2022, but who have stayed in the programme and are still expecting payments from the government.

It also said its findings revealed that some consultants are holding on to beneficiaries’ funds disbursed to them long ago.

“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. Some have other jobs and have left this bracket but are still benefiting from the payments, while those who truly worked are not paid.

“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.” 

The federal government, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to support the suspension of the programme, saying it was in effort to restore the nation’s confidence in the programme.

“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.”