All backlog payments to Batches A and B beneficiaries of N-Power programme have been paid, the Federal Government said yesterday.
The Federal Government also announced that it was about to conclude the new enrollments of one million beneficiaries under Batch C of the social investment programme.
Sadiya Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, on Thursday disclosed this to journalists in Abuja.
She said the one million new beneficiaries would be taken in two streams of 500,000 participants each.
Some beneficiaries in Batches A and B had complained in the past that they were being owed several months the N30,000 stipend being paid by the government.
But while reacting to this, the Minister said her ministry in partnership with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had successfully cleared all outstanding payments.
“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,” Faruq said.
She stated that N-Power was another component of the National Social Investment Programme designed to stem the growing tide of poverty, unemployment and social insecurity in Nigeria.
The Minister 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.”
Backlogs have not been cleared, they are scam