Hundreds of exited N-Power beneficiaries were not selected for the NEXIT training, which was sponsored by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and scheduled to begin on March 14, across various states in Nigeria.
On Tuesday, via her Twitter page, Nneka Ikem, the Special Assistant, Media & Publicity, to the Minister of Humanitarian, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, said 370,000 exited beneficiaries indicated interest for the training.
Ripples Nigeria had reported in February that Ikem informed exited Npower beneficiaries to indicate and register their interest in the CBN-backed NEXIT training by dialing a USSD code.
Out of the 370,000 beneficiaries that indicated interest, 140,000 failed the selection process, as Ikem disclosed that only 230,000 will benefit from the March training which is reportedly expected to provide material and financial assistance for their preferred business.
“Only 370,000 @npower_ng exited beneficiaries indicated interest when the portal was opened by @cenbank . 230,000 successfully logged into the USSD code confirming their residences and preparedness for the #NEXIT training programme.” Ikem wrote.
CBN makes millions out of selection process
The process of selection was a revenue source for the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Ministry of Humanitarian, Disaster Management, and Social Development, according to Npower beneficiaries.
During the registeration process, N-Power beneficiaries were charged N30 for using the *45665# code. With 370,000 beneficiaries indicating interest via the USSD code, CBN generated N11.1 million.
In a previous report by Ripples Nigeria in February, it had been projected that the government would generate around N15 million, considering there are about 500,000 exited N-Power beneficiaries across Batch A and B.
The Batch A beneficiaries were initially drafted into the N-Power programme in 2016, while Batch B came in 2017, before both batches exited simultaneously in 2020.