FG clears N-Power backlog payments, enrols one million new beneficiaries

The Federal Government, on Thursday, declared that all outstanding payments to Batches A and B beneficiaries of N-Power programme have been paid.

It also said that it was about to conclude the new enrolments of one million beneficiaries under Batch C of the N-Power programme.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, who announced this to reporters in Abuja, stated that the one million beneficiaries would be taken in two streams of 500,000 participants each.

Some Batch B beneficiaries had professed in the past that the government failed to pay the N30,000 stipend to participants of the programme.

But while responding to this, Farouq disclosed that her ministry in collaboration with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had successfully cleared all outstanding payments.

She said, “We have sorted out all the backlogs of N-Power payments with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and we have moved on to the next batch.”

Farouq clarified that that N-Power was another segment of the National Social Investment Programme planned to curtail the increasing deluge of poverty, joblessness and social insecurity in Nigeria.

She said, “N-Power is the job creation and economic component of the NSIP for young unemployed Nigerians. It has provided temporary income-generating opportunities for 500,000 unemployed youths of Batches A and B N-Power beneficiaries.

“Currently the ministry is about concluding the enrollment of 1,000,000 Batch C applicants in two streams of 500,000 in the first instance and another 500,000 later.”

The Minister added that under the National Social Register, a total number of 6,969,230 households and 29,766,599 people had been captured.

Farouq declared that about 4,000,000 households and 20,000,000 people were to be added to the social register, as one million households and 5.6 million people had been captured under the Conditional Cash Transfer.

She stated, “There is a plan to add another batch of 1,000,000 households and 5,600,000 persons to the CCT.”