The latest batch of workers in the Nigerian government scheme, NPower, has decried the non-payment of their salaries by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

The federal government workers numbering 510,000 were the Batch C inaugurated in August 2021, after the minister, Sadiya Farouk, scrapped batches A and B due to the government’s failure to pay them.

UGAMATV had in 2021 published several reports on how the Minister failed to pay the benefits and salaries of the previous sets despite their protests and calls for her sack.

According to a letter obtained by journalists on Saturday, the new set of aggrieved workers complaining non-payment of their stipends are about 510,000 intakes, comprising graduates and non-graduates.

The statement read, “On behalf of the 510,000 graduate and non-graduate beneficiaries of Npower programme Batch C, we wish to raise the alarm about the deliberate and perpetual FAILURES of Mrs. Sadiya Umar Farouq, the Minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, to pay our STIPENDS completely from the ONSET of this programme.

“We were recruited in August of 2021 after our final and physical screening. Till now, majority of 510,000 beneficiaries have not been paid our stipends which is N30,000 and N10,000 for graduate and non-graduate beneficiaries respectively.

“Only few among us have received full payment of September, October and November stipends till now while December and January remain outstanding.  A significant number of us have not been paid at all till now. Non-graduate beneficiaries were paid in September. Till now, none of them has been paid again for October, November, December 2021 and January 2022.

“While we acknowledge the challenging task of paying a huge number of 510,000 beneficiaries, our expectation is that the challenge should occur only in the first month of payment (September). In every month, the minister keeps giving the same excuse and promises for partial payment of stipends to few beneficiaries while others are left unattended to.

“This was not how payments were carried out when the programme was under the office of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo. It was under Mrs. Sadiya Farouq that payment of stipends became a Herculean task. And this was how she made several excuses till many beneficiaries of Batch B were not paid till date.

“We, the 510,000 beneficiaries of Npower programme, hereby plead for intervention on this issue.”