Over 90% of the 200,000 unemployed Nigerian graduates selected in the first batch of the N-Power Volunteer Corps, NPVC, have been verified using the Bank Verification Number, and any untrue information submitted in the process of application is a ground for disqualification.

This clarification was given Sunday by the Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity in the Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, while giving an update on the N-Power Volunteer Corps which is now advancing with assignment of beneficiaries to their places of deployments in their states of residence.

Mr. Akande, who referred to a BBC report last week regarding the testimonials of some of the selected Nigerian graduates noted that “it is most gladdening that those who were selected are now telling the stories of how they have not been employed for years, but now grateful to the President for this initiative.”

Some of them, he added, expressed satisfaction that even though they knew no one in government, they were selected for the paid volunteer job program, attesting to the transparency of the selection process.

Mr. Akande said that all the states and the FCT, through the focal persons they appointed, have since received the list of the 200,000, and now working on deploying the beneficiaries to their places of assignment.

He also explained that by using the BVN, which is one of the most viable means of identification in the country today, there is hardly any way anything fraudulent can sail through in the process.

“We are confident that the selection process, all the way through with BVN, and physical verification at the points of deployment in the states and the local government areas, are both transparent and impossible to abhor ghost beneficiaries, or any kind of fraud,” he said.
Mr. Akande said already 93% of those selected have been screened through the BVN, with the commendable assistance of the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, NIBSS, and only authentic and verifiable beneficiaries will be paid the N30,000 monthly stipends starting December.

Responding to reports about random searches conducted on social media platforms, the SSA dismissed them, saying such cannot be better than “biometric identification we have secured through the BVN.”

“Besides the BVN, there is going to be physical verification, through an in-built component in our selection system that requires that information submitted online during the application would have to be authenticated at the point of deployment across the country, including verification of academic credentials and residence status.”

According to him, just as is normal when someone gets a job or even admission to school, he or she would proceed to present papers that have been submitted during application for verification. “This is also going to be like that, so claims about some applicants claiming to be residents of states would be dealt with if it turns out such claims are false. If an applicant cannot supply proof of residence, the selection is terminated.”
Besides, he explained that in a local government such as Abadam in Borno State, where there have been claims that nonresidents applied and were selected, Akande assured that there is no cause for alarm because such people would have to show up for verification on the spot.

He added that there was also a likelihood that a number of applicants may have input Abadam inadvertently considering that Abadam LGA is number one on the list of LGAs under the list as posted on the N-Power portal. “There is a good chance,” he continued, “that some applicants may have failed to complete the forms online accurately.”

Such errors are being reviewed and anyone found not to be resident in the LGA would be removed and replaced using the waiting list of applicants.

Said he: “an important aspect of the application was that applicants were told in clear terms that any false information would be grounds for disqualification.”
On how the 200,000 people were selected, the SSA Media explained that the selection was not only fair and done transparently, but also with adequate care.
Firstly, 40% of those who applied for the N-Power Teach and Agric were selected, and 50% of those who applied for the Health category, all based on an assessment test.

Then to mitigate the adverse socio-economic circumstances in the North- East an additional 4800 applicants from the region were selected with Borno State getting 1200 and Adamawa, Yobe, Taraba 800 each and Bauchi and Gombe 600 each.

Also to bolster states with low application numbers, an additional 4208 was selected and shared between Bayelsa, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States. The Federal Ministry of Agric also additionally allocated 6799 applicants in the Agric category to all states across specific crop, fish and livestock targets in order to support government’s self-sufficiency target in Agric produce.

Gender and disability factor were also key in the selection. 46% of those selected, Mr. Akande disclosed, are females, while a total of 1126 were successful applicants with disabilities.

Mr. Akande then assured that those not selected in the first batch are now in the waiting list until the subsequent batches when they would be considered again, since there are still 300,000 to be selected under this budget cycle.

On why the selection process was based on states of residence rather than states of origin, Mr. Akande simply noted that for example, over 42,000 Nigerians applied for the N-Power from Lagos but only 3568 of them originate from Lagos. “Would it then be tenable to say almost 40,000 Bona fide Nigerians who are applicants resident in Lagos should just forget it since they are resident but not origins of the Lagos State?

krasican:
On why the selection process was based on states of residence rather than states of origin, Mr. Akande simply noted that for example, over 42,000 Nigerians applied for the N-Power from Lagos but only 3568 of them originate from Lagos. “Would it then be tenable to say almost 40,000 Bona fide Nigerians who are applicants resident in Lagos should just forget it since they are resident but not origins of the Lagos State?

Blue3k:


State of origin dumb concept anyway. People should become citezens of multiple states after certain amount of time being residents. That way they fully integrate into society. Lol the near 40k applicants probably lived in Lagos for a long time and have no connection with lagos then state of origin.

Luizkid:
so why can't Lagos applicants have access to update their info??

olavic17:
lagos has been activated. You can log in now.

vivymako:
Ds una talk talk don do abeg... Make the program start

nmreports:
Why is there so much hype about NPower.
Starting to look politically motivated.
There are other numerous ongoing recruitment please.
Talk about those too.

Follow this process here to resolve log in issues on NPower. Its a new post:
http://www.hrtechnique.com/2016/11/follow-this-process-to-log-in-or.html

franciskaine:
in Oshiomole's voice, if u don't like it "go and die".

humilitypays:
I said before and got banned, but I will say it again.

The issue with this N-Power programme is that even though it is a good programme, very commendable, the organizers and coordinators didn't carry out the screening very well, how do I mean?

Take it or leave it, many people that got selected for this programme are gainfully employed and earning good income already, while many unemployed Nigerian youths that really need this programme to survive were not selected.

The organizers only used the BVN to check if the applicant truly exist and have an account with the name, but they failed to use the BVN to check the in-flow of cash into each applicants' bank account as a way of knowing those that are gainfully employed or not.

This would have been easier if the organizers worked in conjunction with PENSION managers to screen out already employed youths.

Better still, they would have limited it to new graduates that just passed out from NYSC, let's say 2 years back. Though this criteria isn't so fair to all unemployed Nigerians, but my point is, how did N-Power organizers screen to know applicants that already have a job and those that don't have a job presently?

N-Power organizers should go back to the drawing board and do further screening to remove names of all already employed applicants that got selected to the detriment of the unemployed applicants. If this cannot be done, then this programme is a failure like every other Federal Government youth empowerment programmes of the past, because they will end up giving free money to already employed Nigerians that don't need it while leaving out those jobless youths that needs this badly.

APC attack dogs, over to you lol

humilitypays:
I said before and got banned, but I will say it again.

The issue with this N-Power programme is that even though it is a good programme, very commendable, the organizers and coordinators didn't carry out the screening very well, how do I mean?

Take it or leave it, many people that got selected for this programme are gainfully employed and earning good income already, while many unemployed Nigerian youths that really need this programme to survive were not selected.

The organizers only used the BVN to check if the applicant truly exist and have an account with the name, but they failed to use the BVN to check the in-flow of cash into each applicants' bank account as a way of knowing those that are gainfully employed or not.

This would have been easier if the organizers worked in conjunction with PENSION managers to screen out already employed youths.

Better still, they would have limited it to new graduates that just passed out from NYSC, let's say 2 years back. Though this criteria isn't so fair to all unemployed Nigerians, but my point is, how did N-Power organizers screen to know applicants that already have a job and those that don't have a job presently?

N-Power organizers should go back to the drawing board and do further screening to remove names of all already employed applicants that got selected to the detriment of the unemployed applicants. If this cannot be done, then this programme is a failure like every other Federal Government youth empowerment programmes of the past, because they will end up giving free money to already employed Nigerians that don't need it while leaving out those jobless youths that needs this badly.

APC attack dogs, over to you lol

alawi5k:
FG should abolish state of origin. I don't think I have stayed for 5 weeks in my state of origin since birth. *Buhari2019* Well, waiting for engagement/training and 30k alert. You can rule till Jesus come. Lol

stone07:
I was enjoying ur information but when I reach where u said fresh graduate should only be considered I now concluded u are a very selfish and greedy fellow. It means u are only writing this for ur selfish interest. So old graduates should die and rot away. I wish u good luck.

Better still, they would have limited it to new graduates that just passed out from NYSC, let's say 2 years back. Though this criteria isn't so fair to all unemployed Nigerians

olavic17:
lagos has been activated. You can log in now.

Menzy86:
What u just wrote is absolutely so untrue. 'most are already gainfully employed and should b limited to pple dat graduated recently?' How wicked can dat b. I knw som1 dat graduated 8yrs ago n has hardly ever had anythn to do in dat tym dat got a job wit a private company just two months ago (long after d Npower application had been concluded). Hav u thought of such a scenario?. Plus I hav already seen SEVERAL pple dat got dis witout movin a limb to influence anythn. Need I add that there are several pro PDP IDLE youths dat derided dis program but r SERIOUSLY regretting it now dat everythn is set. Not all tins must b politicised. No matter hw u wanna view this, it is laudable. There has NEVER been a single effort to remove 200,000 graduates from d labour market SIMULTANEOUSLY in d past. If this isn't laudable, NOTHING any govt has ever done is, n nothing any govt will ever do will be.

godfrey01:
an eye opener for those selected... as part of the resident permit..... I think Recent utility bill will be accepted becuase I doubt if somestates outside lagos and abuja gives resident permit to their inhabitants

godfrey01:
not on point... if you been selected i guess you wouldnt have been saying this. I guess its because you were not selected thats why this issue is ruuning through your mind. Remember The people doing the selection have brains and they are not ordinary men like you......