The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has said that it reported allegations of fraud in its flagship N-Power programme involving singer Oladipo Daniel Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’banj, and others to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).
The New Citizen reports that N-Power is a scheme launched by the Buhari on June 8, 2016 to address youth unemployment and help increase social development.
D’banj was arrested by the ICPC yesterday in connection with alleged stealing of funds meant for beneficiaries of the N-Power programme.
Commenting on the development, the spokesperson for the anti-graft agency, Azuka Ogugua, said in a statement, “In line with its mandate, the commission received numerous petitions on the diversion of N-Power funds running into billions of naira following the approval and release of such funds to the beneficiaries by the Federal Government.
“Many N-Power beneficiaries had complained over the non-receipt of the monthly funds in spite of payment by the government.”
She revealed that about 10 persons have been invited by the ICPC over the last few months in connection with the fraud and granted administrative bail.
Addressing a press briefing on the issue Wednesday, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, said the ministry had deployed “a well-rounded mechanism” for the selection of eligible beneficiaries from across the country since the inception of the programme.
He said: “Working with our service provider, programme beneficiaries are onboarded, trained and deployed to pre-selected places of primary assignment.
“When it came to our notice that there may have been sharp practices by some personnel of the Payment Service Provider (PSP) involved in the payment processes of beneficiaries, the matter was immediately referred to ICPC for thorough investigation.
“We are aware that certain persons have consequently been invited for interrogation as part of the ongoing investigations.”
Sani-Gwarzo said the ministry has carried out a “thorough reinforcement” of its systems to eliminate all anomalies and prevent similar occurrences in the future.
“To this end, we are in close collaboration with ICPC to support the successful determination of the investigation,” he said.
The permanent secretary reminded the Nigerian people that the N-Power programme is a very successful component of the National Social Investment Programmme put in place by the Federal Government, pointing out that “it has continued to deliver desired impact through the on-boarding (of) 1.5 million unemployed Nigerian youth (mostly graduates), providing capacity building, targeted tenured employment and structured off-boarding unto various career paths; thereby serving as a catalyst conveyor system for unemployed/under-employed Nigerian youth to successful career paths and a stimulus for the Nigerian economy.”
On the of transparency and accountability in the implementation of N-Power and other National Social Investment Programmes, namely the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) and the Conditional Cash Transfer(CCT), the ministry has over time involved other government MDAs, security agencies and civil society organisations in monitoring and compliance checks across the 36 states of the country and the FCT.
He assured all N-Power beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s continued commitment to the programme and the subsequent exit/off-boarding channels activated.
Sani-Gwarzo added: “All programme beneficiaries should therefore continue to apply themselves to their utmost at their places of primary assignment. All monthly stipends will continue to be paid in line with programme expectations.”
He called on members of the public to come forward with information on any irregularities noticed in the implementation of the National Social Investment programmne through the following channels:
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Phone: 0700 CALL NSIP, 070022556747
or 07030859183- WhatsApp.
