President Bola Tinubu has directed the immediate payment of the backlog of stipends owed to NPower beneficiaries across the country.

Tinubu’s directive followed the conclusion of a painstaking verification exercise initiated and concluded by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

The president’s directive said to have been received on Wednesday night, has attracted jubilation from over 400,000 beneficiaries across the country.

Mr Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair, the Minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, in a statement on Friday, said: “Announcing the release of funds, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty, Dr Betta Edu, said it was indeed a renewed hope for theNigerian youths for the Christmas and New Year festivities.”

“The minister pointed out that President Tinubu’s interest in Nigerian youths was evidenced by the numerous policies and programmes of his administration largely tailored toward providing opportunities for them.

“I stayed awake with the NPOWER team till 3 am at the office to ensure NPOWER beneficiaries get paid before Christmas in line with the directive of the President.

“Now, I can confirm to you that the payment of NPower beneficiaries has commenced and the evidence is in their bank accounts”, the minister said.

She wished the beneficiaries who have been waiting this long due to the painstaking process of the verification exercise, a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year with their loved ones.

A beneficiary, Aminu Muhammed from Kano said in a message to the Minister, “Thank you Mr President and the Honourable Minister for fulfilling your promise, I just received my alert.

“The same confirmation of alert receipt came from Sanni Baba in Bauchi, Uche Nnaji from Enugu, Kayode Babatunde in Ibadan and Kolo Nda from Niger state among about 400,000 beneficiaries who successfully went through the verification process and got paid,” the statement read. (Vanguard)