The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, has, yesterday, declined the demands by the Batch-B N-power Beneficiaries that is about to exit, for the federal government to employ all the 500,000 beneficiaries, as well as pay them a grant of N600,000 each. It considered the request as being selfish and fraudulent.

The Hon minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq, said this in a press statement issued by the deputy director, Press, Rhoda Ishaku Iliya, when she observed, on Thursday, at a rally at the National Assembly, which later proceeded to the Federal Secretariat Complex. The protesters claimed to be representatives of the federal government’s N-Power beneficiaries that are about to be exited.

“The ministry wishes to state that this demand was not part of the engagement agreement they signed with the federal government, which clearly stipulated that they will be exited after 2 years.

Speaking further, she said that government could not afford the N300 billion they are asking for as grant: “It is noteworthy to state that the FGN has expended hundreds of billions to N-POWER beneficiaries during the last 4 years, and is liaising with the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, which is responsible for the payment of their stipends, to ensure that any outstanding legitimate claim is settled.”

Farouq said, however, that even though the ministry is not a lending agency, it is in contact with other ministry’s, departments and agencies (MDAs) such as CBN and NALDA, to see if the exited beneficiaries can key into their empowerment programmes. Leadership