Payment of arrears of stipends for batches A and B of the 2016 and 2018 volunteers of the N-Power programme nationwide had commenced.
Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development disclosed this in a statement issued by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Bashir Alkali, in Abuja on Friday.
Alkali said the accounts of 14,021 volunteers were flagged in March 2020 by the FG payment system, the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), for various reasons.
He the reasons include beneficiaries holding multiple bank accounts and receiving other payments such as salaries and allowances from multiple Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) on permanent employment
Alkali said the acts violated the regulations guiding the N-Power volunteer programme and could amount to gross misconduct and corruption.
He said a detailed investigation was carried out by the Ministry in collaboration with relevant government MDAs and so far the accounts of 9,066 volunteers were cleared for final payment.
“Based on this reality, the five months allowance arrears of these volunteers, totalling N150,000 each is currently being paid. They have started receiving credit alerts on Friday,” he said.
“The allowances of the remaining 4,955 is withheld pending the conclusion of further investigation. Where clear violations of the agreements are established, such violators will be subjected to appropriate sanctions as stipulated by the law.
“Contrary to some insinuations in the public domain, this process is a clear demonstration of the ministry’s resolve to address this unfortunate incidence in a transparent manner for accountability and to forestall its future occurrence.
“As it has consistently maintained, the investigation carried out by the ministry is in the best interest of the country and has the major goal of institutionalising the National Social Investment Programme.
“The ministry regrets the delays experienced in concluding this process, but assures the public that transparency and accountability cannot be compromised in all its activities.”
