The Federal Government has started the payment of N30,000 monthly stipends for beneficiaries of the N-Power scheme, the job creation programme of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Laolu Akande, the senior special assistant, media and publicity, office of the vice-president, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, December 30, stating that: “all successfully verified beneficiaries who have provided bank accounts are being processed for payment’’.

According to him “some beneficiaries will receive their first stipends on December 30.’’

Akande said the process of payment would continue after the New Year public holiday, urging beneficiaries of subsequent batch of the scheme to take their virtual training seriously.

He also encouraged states who had yet to conclude the physical verification process to do so, “as that would enable the N-Power beneficiaries in those states to draw from its benefits & empowerment offers.’’

The N-Power programme is designed to engage the massive numbers of unemployed Nigerian graduates from tertiary institutions across the country.

The unemployed graduates selected for the N-POWER programme are given assignments that will help to address issues in schools, hospitals and other areas in communities across the country.

A total of 150,000 out of the 200,000 selected in the first phase of the scheme would be deployed as support teachers to help address shortage of teachers in schools at the basic and secondary levels.

Another 30, 000 graduates would work as extension workers in various communities which will expectedly aid the government’s diversification agenda.

Meanwhile, the federal government has confirmed the release of N25billion funds for the payment of N5,000 monthly stipends to unemployed graduates.

The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed said, the funds were for the social intervention programmes of the administration and she added that an additional N40billion would also soon be released to the initial N25billion.

Naij