The Federal Government of Nigeria has given reason for not paying 14,020 beneficiaries of the N-Power scheme.
Rhoda Iliya, the Deputy Director, Information, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, made this disclosure in a statement on Thursday.
According to the statement, out of 516,600 data of beneficiaries sent to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) for migration-only 502,580 data migrated to GIFMIS platform, while 14,020 beneficiaries did not because the account details already exist in civil service portal.
The statement reads as follows: “The attention of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has been drawn to the complaint of non-payment of some N-Power beneficiaries during the last exercise, with some alleging non-payment for upward of four months.
“For the records, the Ministry wishes to state that it had always processed, approved and remit necessary information for payments to the Office of the Accountant–General of the Federation (OAGF) whose responsibility it is to credit the various accounts of the beneficiaries using the GIFMIS platform as directed by FGN.
“However, after receiving complaint of non-payment by some beneficiaries who did same through the ministry, the OAGF (GIFMIS) officially wrote informing the ministry that out of a total 516,600 N-Power beneficiaries data sent to OAGF for migration in April, 2020, only a total of 502,580 data have successfully migrated to the GIFMIS platform, while a total of 14,020 beneficiaries were returned because the beneficiaries’ account details already exist in other MDAs, which is against the established rule of the N-Power programme. This is verifiable.
“The Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq, regrets any inconvenience this might have caused genuine and eligible beneficiaries just as the OAGF saddled with the responsibility of filtering out those denied is working assiduously to remedy the situation.”