The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, on Tuesday, announced that the registration of Batch C of its N-Power programme has closed.

It said the registration closed on August 9, 2020, adding that a total of 5,042,001 Nigerian youths applied as at the end of the exercise.

The government, through a tweet by the N-Power Programme, earlier stated that it would enroll about 400,000 beneficiaries in the Batch C scheme.

The ministry said in a statement issued in Abuja by the humanitarian minister’s Special Assistant on Strategic Communication, Halima Oyelade, that the registration exercise for Batch C beneficiaries commenced on June 26, 2020.

It said the registration was initially scheduled to end on July 26, 2020, but the ministry extended the date by two weeks to avail those who were unable to apply to do so.

In the statement, the minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, reassured Nigerians that due diligence would be applied during the next stages of the selection to ensure that only duly qualified applicants were enrolled.

She said the ministry would ensure that the applicants, as well as the general public, were kept fully informed on the progress of the scheme.

Umar-Farouq added that the N-Power programme was aimed to provide Nigerian youths with opportunities to gain skills for employability and entrepreneurship.

This, she said, would go a long way in assisting the country in its post-COVID-19 economic recovery drive.

The minister said women and persons with disabilities would be prioritised during the selection.

Umar-Farouq said her ministry remained committed to the vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years, as the N-Power scheme was one of the platforms that could assist in the realisation of this vision.