N-Power: Reps From Across Nigeria Hold National Media Conference On Ministry Of Humanitarian Affairs

The 36-state representatives of N-Power volunteers plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Monday held a national media conference concerning the scheme's transition plan, payment of backlogs, devices collection for Batch B and some of Batch A, AllNews reports.

The National Media Conference was held in Kwara State, North-Central Nigeria, amid transition promise made severally by the Sadiya Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development of Nigeria. The next line of action will be publicised in due course, according to the Forum.

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.

Some representatives at the conference

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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.

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