TheCable

Gital Umar, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has called on Nigerian youths to take advantage of the N-Power initiative.

Established in 2016, the N-Power scheme is designed for unemployed graduates who get engaged by the government to receive N30, 000 monthly.

At the flagging off of Batch C of the N-Power programme in Abuja, Sadiya Farouq, minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, had said 500,000 applicants would be enrolled.

Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday, Gital advised the youths to take advantage of the mentoring opportunity provided by the programme.

He said this will come through the acquisition of skills that would give them lifelong financial independence.

“The era of hawking certificates for white-collar employment is gone as that can no longer guarantee even the minimum living standards,” he said.

The lawmaker also encouraged the youths not to miss the verification exercise which will end on September 24.

Gital commended the federal government for commencing the payment of outstanding allowances to Batches A and B participants.

The federal government, on Friday, said it had begun the payment of outstanding allowances to 9,066 volunteers who had issues with their accounts.

Gital advised the finance minister to ensure that the integrity of the programme is not tainted by allegations that in some states, beneficiaries were being asked to pay money, while in others, politicians were turning the programme into tools for partisan political benefits.