Reps order probe of alleged corruption in N-Power Programme

The House of Representatives has ordered investigation into alleged arbitrariness in the management of the N-Power programme of the federal government.

At plenary on Tuesday, Hon. Oluga Taiwo moved a motion of urgent national importance on the need to investigate the arbitrariness and possible corruption in the N-Power programme which was adopted by the House.

She said the Federal Government established the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) in 2015 in fulfilment of the administration’s campaign promises to Nigerians.

The NSIP, she said, included the N-Power Programme which consists of the N-Teach, N-Agro, N-Tech, N-Build and N-Creativity programmes.

Oluga stressed that the N-Teach programme involved the engagement of Nigerians with Minimum NCE, OND, HND, B.Sc, M.Sc and Ph.D. degrees who are posted to teach in different schools in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

She explained that the programme requires N-Power teachers to report in their states and the state offices/local offices will now post them to different schools in various local governments within the state to teach courses related to their discipline and as directed by their various school heads.

Oluga expressed worry that in recent times, there are increasing cases of N-Power beneficiaries/teachers who are diligent in their places of official assignment and who have no queries or negative reports, yet at the end of the month, their payments are withheld and all efforts to get reinstated have proved abortive.

“Worried that these N-Power beneficiaries, their school principals and the independent monitors have confirmed that there are no queries and yet some of the N-Power beneficiaries have been blocked and exited from the platform for no reason whatsoever, yet they keep reporting in their place of duty and have now been owed several months’ monthly allowance without pay.

In Osun State alone, over 400 N-Power beneficiaries/teachers are been owed monthly allowances ranging from 12 months, 15 months and 18 months respectively, due to arbitrary withholding of their account and unlawful exit from the platform despite diligence of place of official assignment, which is contrary to the objectives of the N-Power, N-Teach programme,” she said.

Oluga added that this arbitrariness in withholding accounts and non-payment of monthly allowances signal corruption and waste of public funds, noting that this is also the case in many other South-western states and some states in the North-Central.

She said cognisant that the funds used for the NSIP are monies belonging to the government and appropriated for that purpose by the National Assembly, thus, the House is constitutionally empowered by virtue of Section 88 and 89 to investigate waste or mismanagement of the funds.

The House, therefore, directed its Committees on Sustainable Development Goals and Youth Development to immediately investigate the alleged arbitrariness in the management of the N-Teach programme and report back within the next three weeks.