Vice President Yemi-Osinbajo: his office is charge of the N-Power programme

Jethro Ibileke/Benin

The Federal Government’s Social Investment Scheme in Edo State has explained why teachers employed under its N-Power scheme in the state have not been paid.

Recall that the teachers in Egor Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo State had, had staged a peaceful protest on Monday, over non-payment of stipends.

A statement by the focal person for the scheme in Edo, Reverend S.O Uhunmwangho, said beneficiaries who have not been paid had problems, including discrepancies in bank account names, wrong BVN, usage of company/joint/proxy accounts etc.

Uhunmwangho who estimated that there could be about 167 of such cases in the state, noted that the problem was rampant among the beneficiaries in Egor noting that it would soon be solved, assuring them of payment of their stipend by the end of March.

He however informed beneficiaries who have set their records straight either online at the N-Power portal or through registration at the state office, that they would be paid as the national office in Abuja, which is responsible for the online payments would finalise the payments soon.

“It was due to one problem or the other in their entries during their initial enrollment into the programme.

“It is pertinent to note that many of the beneficiaries from Egor, particularly the N-Power Teach Component, claimed that nearly all of them had not been paid. We expect that they will get pay in the next payment cycle which is slated for end of March 2017,” Uhumwanghos said.

He also revealed that 4,702 beneficiaries of the job creation and empowerment sub-programme were engaged in Edo state of which Egor LGA N-Power Teach beneficiaries, who protested yesterday, constitute about 9.23 percent.

In addition, he said that according to the national office in Abuja, 3,628 beneficiaries were confirmed to have started receiving their monthly stipends, and records dated yesterday confirmed that 4,535 beneficiaries had successfully keyed into the programme and would all receive payment by the next payment cycle slated for end of March 2017.

“Initially, when the issue of non-payment came up, efforts were made by the state office of the programme to receive their complaints through collection of the required data, which included names of beneficiaries, bank name, account number, account name and BVN. These were forwarded via e-mail to the national office, Abuja with a reply that the issue was receiving attention,” he said.