Npower News: National Social Investment Programmes Agency Chief Executive Officer Akindele Egbuwalo Cannot Explain Why Beneficiaries of Npower Batch C Have Not Received Their Stipend
Akindele Egbuwalo, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA), has failed to explain why four hundred thousand beneficiaries of Npower batch c have not received their 9 - 12 months Npower payment amounting to ₦108,000,000,000.
Akindele Egbuwalo was summoned on Tuesday to share the National Social Investment Programmes Agency's current status regarding Npower payment, but Akindele Egbuwalo said that the National Social Investment Programmes Agency’s communication department was in charge of updates.
“I don’t grant such interviews on the phone, and the communication department is in charge to update you on the relevant answers you need to your questions,” Akindele Egbuwalo said.
Beneficiaries of Npower batch c complained about the non payment of their stipends by the federal government for several months in 2023. The beneficiaries of Npower batch c created their own association through which Npower representatives communicated with the federal government.
One of the beneficiaries of Npower batch c said they had to carry out demonstrations in front of the federal government secretariat in Abuja.
They have demonstrated on three separate occasions already.
“Four hundred thousand Npower beneficiaries of Batch C, Stream 2, are being owed. They have not paid us after a series of peaceful demonstrations. After going to Abuja time and time again, nobody was paid even after the president approved the payments in December,” the beneficiary of Npower batch c said on Tuesday.
“We saw it in the news on the 22nd of December that the president approved payments for Npower beneficiaries, and we were paid for one month the next day. The remaining stipends did not follow that one-time payment in December. They owe beneficiaries 9 months of stipends.
“Every beneficiary is entitled to a thirty thousand naira monthly stipend. Each of those four hundred thousand beneficiaries has not received that stipend for nine months. We have written numerous letters, but there is nothing to show for them today.
“The director of the NSIPA keeps telling us that the programme has been suspended by the president and they cannot do anything for now. He says that if we are to agitate for anything, we cannot carry out demonstration for payment; the only thing we can do now is to find a way to appeal to Mr. President to lift the suspension placed on the National Social Investment Programme. Once that is done, we can then start talking about resumption of Npower payments.”
If four hundred thousand Npower beneficiaries say the government has withheld two hundred and seventy thousand naira from them each, the government owes them ₦108,000,000,000.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, suspended the National Social Investment Programmes Agency and all related activities in January for 6 weeks. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had suspended Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation who oversaw the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA), after a memo showed Betta Edu request for transfer of ₦585,000,000 public funds to a personal bank account.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu also suspended the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Social Investment Programmes Agency Ms. Halima Shehu, in January.
In April, the anti-graft agency, that is the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said that it had recovered ₦30,000,000,000 while investigating personal bank accounts linked to the former Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Betta Edu, and that investigation on the matter is still ongoing.
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