Amid growing outrage over corruption allegations in Nigeria’s Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, the National Association of N-Power Beneficiaries (NANB) has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately release the full findings of its investigation involving former ministers Betta Edu, Sadiya Umar-Farouk, former NSIPA coordinator Halima Shehu, and a contractor, James Okwete.
The demand comes as thousands of aggrieved N-Power beneficiaries remain unpaid for over a year, even after providing active service to the Nigerian government under its flagship social intervention scheme.
In a letter dated May 2, 2025, obtained by The Trumpet, NANB urged the EFCC to embrace transparency and accountability by disclosing the report to the public or, at the very least, granting access to civil society organizations and concerned Nigerians.
Signed by NANB National Secretary Bashir Ladan on behalf of the National President, the letter emphasized that hiding the results undermines the anti-corruption efforts Nigeria claims to uphold and weakens public trust in government institutions.
The EFCC launched its probe several months ago amid a storm of allegations implicating top officials in financial misconduct, including suspicious transactions and contract fraud. While the investigation was expected to clean up the tarnished image of the Ministry, no conclusive findings have been shared with the public, leaving both the beneficiaries and the nation in the dark.
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NANB stressed that the alleged corruption did not just stain the image of the Ministry but significantly disrupted the lives of thousands of young Nigerians who depended on the N-Power program for survival. The association warned that continued silence from the EFCC risks fueling further distrust and disillusionment with the government’s anti-corruption agenda.
N-Power, introduced by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016, was designed to fight youth unemployment by offering training and stipends to graduates and non-graduates aged 18 to 35. With over 500,000 participants across all 774 local government areas, the program was one of the largest of its kind in Africa. But years of alleged mismanagement, fraud, and delayed payments have tainted its reputation.
By November 2024, frustration had reached boiling point as N-Power beneficiaries threatened to stage protests across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Led by Adeshina Adex, the aggrieved volunteers decried the non-payment of stipends between October 2022 and September 2023, even though their services were fully utilized before the program’s suspension.
Beneficiaries insist that they are owed back pay, regardless of the government’s abrupt pause of the scheme. Many say the withheld stipends have pushed them into deeper hardship and are demanding immediate disbursement to ease their economic burden.
As the pressure mounts, the Nigerian public awaits EFCC’s next move, whether the anti-graft agency will uphold the principles of transparency or allow yet another high-profile probe to fade into silence.
