N-Power: Buhari's Minister Overwhelmingly Voted Against (Poll Result)

Most respondents have voted against President Muhammadu Buhari keeping the N-Power scheme's duty with Sadiya Farouq, the current Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development of Nigeria, AllNews reports.

In a weekslong poll by Nigeria's fast-evolving news website, AllNews, which garnered over 490 votes, 425 people (86.21%) posit that President Buhari should withdraw N-Power duty from Farouq.

Recall that Farouq - by age the youngest minister in the current federal cabinet - was appointed by President Buhari in July 2019.

Also recall that the National Social Investment Programmes, NSIP (an initiative the N-Power scheme is one of its elements), which was formerly under the office of the vice-president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and managed by Hajia Maryam Uwais, special adviser to the president on social intervention, was moved to the ministry of humanitarian affairs on October 1, 2019.

Nigeria's NSIPs include the N-Power scheme, National Home Grown School Feeding Programme and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).

Since assuming office, Farouq is often accused of delaying N-Power beneficiaries' stipends unnecessarily, and she is being criticised by some of the exited Batch A and B beneficiaries for 'ejecting them from the famed scheme without a proper plan in place'.

Numerous N-Power beneficiaries have described Minister Farouq's portfolio (Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management) as an aberration, rechristening the Zamfara-born politician the 'Disaster Minister'.

At the early stage of her period in office, Farouq blamed the stipends delay on the handing-over process of the N-Power to her ministry.

Afolabi Imoukhuede, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to President Buhari on Job Creation, who conceptualised, developed and implemented the N-Power scheme has since handed off. Yet, it is still excuses upon excuses from Farouq. This reporter observes genuine N-Power beneficiaries come online to lament their situation. AllNews' mail has been inundated with messages from aggrieved beneficiaries too.

The most recent excuse given by Farouq was the April migration of N-Power beneficiaries' data to the new payment platform, the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS). Inexplainable how four months after, these Nigerian youths whom the government emphasise to must have no other job other than N-Power, have to always cry online for their N30, 000 (78 US Dollars) monthly entitlement.

READ ALSO: N-Power Batch C: 'We're In The Process Of Selecting Qualified Beneficiaries Coming Into The Programme' - Nigerian Minister

July stipend has still not been paid to Batch B. And this is September.

N-Power: Should Pres. Buhari Keep Scheme's Duty With Minister Sadiya Farouq? (See the poll result below):