'N-Power Is Scam'

A Nigerian Twitter user, Bello Ridwan has described the Federal Government's N-Power initiative as a "scam".

The N-Power programme was established by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 8, 2016, "to address the issues of youth unemployment and help increase social development".

But despite its initial accomplishments, especially between 2016 and mid-2019, the scheme has received many knocks lately, largely due to how Sadiya Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, has handled it.

"Everything about this government is scam Npower, covid_19 donation, public work, Lagos-Ibadan express road just to mention a few. Someone should dash me money/work jor my acc has reach ground level," Bello wrote via Twitter on Tuesday.

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, disaster management, and social development on October 1, 2019.

The N-Power scheme had sub-components as N-Teach, N-Agro, N-Health and N-Health.

Over 14, 000 N-Power Batches A and B beneficiaries who were disengaged in June and July 2020 are still at a loss regarding their five-month outstanding stipend arrears.

Despite the promise by Farouq, to pay all outstanding stipends of exited N-Power beneficiaries before the end of 2020, the Nigerian youths are still yet to get paid - seven months after her pledge.

Also, six months after the launch of the N-Power NEXIT by Nigerian authorities, AllNews can authoritatively report that there is no single ex-beneficiary that has been placed into the any Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention option, as promised.