Scores of beneficiaries of the NPower Job initiative of the Federal Government in Oyo State on Wednesday protested against non-payment of their monthly stipends since December last year.
The protesters who stormed the state Ministry of Women Affairs, Poverty Alleviation and Social Development Secretariat, Ibadan, informed DAILY POST that they had been cleared but wondered why they were yet to receive their monthly stipends.
They disclosed that their colleagues in other states had been paid.
Those who spoke said it was unfortunate that all efforts made to get the person who is in charge to provide necessary information for has proved abortive.
DAILY POST recalled that the Special Adviser to the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Mr. Laolu Akande has reportedly claimed that the 200,000 unemployed youths across the 36 state and FCT have been posted to their respective places of work and that those employed will start work and receive their stipend from December 1st last year.
But one of the beneficiaries, Kehinde Omolola from Akinyele Local Government while speaking on behalf of her colleagues said all efforts made by the beneficiaries in all the 33 local government area of the state to know the focal person for the scheme in the state had meet brick walls.
She then urged the office of the Vice President to intervene in the matter to avoid their own allowance being corned by the officials in charge.
Omolola insisted that officials of the National Orientation Agency, State Universal Basic Education Board, Ministry of Education and the Women Affairs had been pushing them from one place to the other since the commencement of the payment of December 2016 allowance in January this year.
“I am one of the beneficiaries of NPower, we have not been paid, they did not tell us anything, they have been pushing us around, we have gone to the secretariat to complain; we have been to NOA, SUBEB, Ministry of Education and Women Affairs, they did not tell us anyone that is in charge”, she alleged.
However, an official at the Poverty Alleviation department, who later chased the protesters out of the premises declared that the Commissioner of Women Affairs, Mrs. Atinuke Osunkoya was the one in charge of the program.
“Some of them have changed their names due to marriage, if the information is different from the account details supplied, will you pay? Some of them, their documents are not complete, so tell them.
“Please everybody should leave here. Vacate this premises”, he ordered.
Meanwhile, as at the time of filling this report, the state Commissioner of Information, Mr. Toye Arulogun is yet to reply an SMS sent to him by our correspondent for further clarification.
The SMS was sent to him after our correspondent called his mobile phone without response.
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