Former N-Power Beneficiaries Drag APC Govt to Court, Demand N5 Billion
- Former N-Power beneficiaries took legal action against the federal government due to the non-payment of their outstanding allowances
- The lawsuit was initiated by Nigerian youths who said they represent their fellow former N-Power participants
- N-Power is a scheme set up by the former President of Nigeria, late Muhammadu Buhari, since June 2016, to address the issues of youth unemployment
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Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering public affairs and governance.
FCT, Abuja - No less than 230,000 former beneficiaries of the N-Power scheme have dragged the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government before the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), Abuja division, to seek immediate payment of their outstanding stipends and allowances.
Legit.ng reports that the former N-Power graduate volunteers were entitled to a monthly stipend of N30,000 for a period of one year. The non-graduate beneficiaries earned N10,000 monthly stipends for nine months.

Source: Twitter
N-Power beneficiaries fume over 'unpaid stipends'
The aggrieved former beneficiaries are also demanding the sum of N5 billion as general damages and compensation for what they described as deliberate labour exploitation, unfair treatment, and breach of contractual obligations on the part of the government.
The lawsuit, which has been filed and is marked NICN/ABJ/214/2025 and franked by a legal team led by A. A. Hikima, was instituted by ten named claimants on behalf of the entire group of 231,871 affected individuals who were engaged under the N-Power programme during the last phase of the late Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The defendants in the suit include the federal ministry of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, the attorney-general of the federation, the accountant-general of the federation, and Akindele Egbuwalo, who is being sued in his official capacity as the National Programme Manager of the N-Power scheme.
The claimants, through the court process obtained by Legit.ng, are asking the court to declare that the refusal, failure, and neglect by the government to pay them their accrued allowances after services rendered constitute a gross violation of their rights and are in clear breach of Nigerian labour laws.
They argued that having been formally engaged by the federal government, served in various public institutions, and fulfilled all duties assigned to them, the non-payment of their entitlements is unlawful and amounts to deliberate exploitation.
Furthermore, they maintained that the refusal to pay them violates international best practices in employment and public service.
According to the court papers, the claimants are specifically asking the court to declare that “the defendants' refusal, failure, and neglect to pay the claimants their accrued and outstanding allowances for services duly rendered constitute a wrongful and unlawful act and amount to a clear violation of the claimants' rights under the applicable labour and employment laws governing public service in Nigeria.”
They also want the court to declare that “the defendants’ refusal and failure to pay the claimants’ accrued outstanding allowances amounts to unfair labour practices and is contrary to international best practices.”
The claimants are further asking the court to issue an order “directing the defendants jointly and severally to pay all outstanding allowances accruable to the claimants.”
They also seek an order compelling the government to pay “the total sum of N5,000,000,000 (Five Billion Naira) as general damages and compensation” and another “N50,000,000 (Fifty Million Naira) as cost of filing and instituting this suit.”
N-Power beneficiaries voice out
Speaking to Legit.ng, one of the affected beneficiaries, Abdulganiyu Babatunde, a father of four and graduate of Mechanical Engineering from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Oyo state, narrated his personal experience and the toll the unpaid allowances have taken on his family.
Babatunde said:
“N-Power was the only benefit I received from the Nigerian government since I graduated from LAUTECH in 2010. I was posted to a community secondary school in Kwara State, and at the beginning of the programme, I was using the allowance to support my family. But suddenly, the government stopped the payment."
He added:
“Hoping that they would eventually pay our arrears, I even took out some loans to sustain myself while I continued reporting to my place of assignment. Yet, before the Buhari administration left office, there was still nothing to show for it."

Source: Facebook
He further lamented that “now, it is clear that the current government under Bola Tinubu is not willing to pay these arrears. So, I commend the collective legal action taken against the Nigerian government and fully support it.”
In the court documents, N-Power beneficiaries emphasised that the federal government’s refusal to pay their allowances is not only unjust but also constitutes a violation of labour rights and existing employment laws in Nigeria.
They argued that their services under N-Power were structured as formal government engagements and therefore deserved to be compensated like any other public employment.
Read more on N-Power:
- N-Power: "This is regretted", famed Nigerian govt’s scheme hampered by mismanagement
- N-Power: Fire destroys NSIPA's warehouse as reps order Tinubu to unfreeze accounts

Read also
Buhari's death: List of allowances payable to family members of deceased former Presidents, ex-VPs
Tinubu speaks on N-Power
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that President Bola Tinubu directed the ministry of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation to embark on a comprehensive reform of the N-Power to ensure productivity and the overall impact of the scheme.
In a statement shared by Tinubu's special assistant on social media, Olusegun Dada, the president directed Nentawe Yilwatda, the minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, who then outlined the measures the ministry is taking to transform the programme.
Yilwatda said that over 100,000 empowerment items have been added to the distribution across the country to ensure adequate support for the initiative.
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Source: Legit.ng

Ridwan Adeola (Current Affairs Editor) Ridwan Adeola Yusuf is a content creator with more than nine years of experience, He is also a Current Affairs Editor at Legit.ng. He holds a Higher National Diploma in Mass Communication from the Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State (2014). Ridwan previously worked at Africa Check, contributing to fact-checking research works within the organisation. He is an active member of the Academic Excellence Initiative (AEI). In March 2024, Ridwan completed the full Google News Initiative Lab workshop and his effort was recognised with a Certificate of Completion. Email: ridwan.adeola@corp.legit.ng.
Atanda Omobolaji (Kwara State Correspondent)