N-Power Programme: Did Buhari Ask Ministry to Accommodate Additional 5 Million Beneficiaries?
A report The Punch claims Sadiya Farouq, the minister of the humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, says President Muhammadu Buhari has directed her to increase beneficiaries of the N-Power programme by five million.
The newspaper added the minister said Batch-C of the scheme, which admitted over one million persons, had been inaugurated.
Source: Facebook
It further stated that the minister disclosed this at the handing over of feeding utensils by the humanitarian ministry to beneficiaries of the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in Nasarawa state.
She was said to have been represented at the event by a deputy director in her ministry, Daguleng Ishaku.
The minister was quoted to have said:
PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app
“We have recently inaugurated the Batch C N-Power scheme, which is aimed at helping over one million unemployed Nigerian youths to gain useful experience and technical skills that they can convert into small businesses to further support themselves.
“This is in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directives for the expansion of the programme to accommodate an additional five million beneficiaries.”
N-power is a youth empowerment scheme of the federal government under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) that provides a platform for skills acquisition and development for hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries.
Ministry describes report as fake news
However, in a Facebook post, the humanitarian affairs ministry described the report by The Punch as fake news.
The post which was accompanied with a screenshot of the report by The Punch reads:
"1 milllion N-Power beneficiaries was approved by the President not 5million. Beware of fake news."
Buhari increases N-Power beneficiaries from 500,000 to 1,000,000
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the increase of N-Power beneficiaries to one million.
The president disclosed this in his nationwide broadcast to Nigerians to mark the nation’s 61st independence on Friday, October 1.
In the address shared by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina on Facebook, President Buhari explained that the increase was due to the positive impact of his administration's Social Investment Programmmes. He added that his administration remains committed to the plan to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.
Source: Legit.ng
