A post has been shared repeatedly on social media claiming that the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHDS) in Nigeria has shortlisted candidates for its 2020 N-Power programme.
The post retrieved from a WhatsApp group on 3 September 2020 directed people to check for their names via a link.
The post reads: “Npower 2020 has shortlisted for its second stage. Check if you are included or forward to your loved ones who applied.”
THE CLAIM
That N-power has shortlisted names for its 2020 programme and that people can check via a particular link.
THE FINDINGS:
The N-Power is a scheme set up by the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, meant to address the issues of youth unemployment. It was created as a component of the National Social Investment Programme.
In a bid to verify the claim, The FactCheckHub observed that the website in the post is different from the website created for the programme by the FMHDS.
A close look at the website shows that it is a duplicate site trying to clone the original website. While the original website address is https://npower.fmhds.gov.ng, the fake website changed the dots after ‘Npower’ and after ‘fmhds’ to hyphens.
The FactCheckHub also reached out to the FMHDS to confirm if a shortlist for the N-Power programme is out as asserted.
Halima Oyelade, a Special Assistant on Media to the Humanitarian minister noted that the claim in circulation is false and that the ministry is yet to shortlist people for the N-power programme.
”This is not true,” she replied The FactCheckHub‘s enquiry via a text message.
Similarly, the minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, in a report by Guardian Newspaper noted that the selection process is still ongoing.
She said “We have also received over 5 million applications from proposed N-Power Batch C and we are currently in the process of selecting the qualified beneficiaries coming into the programme”.
“I assure all the applicants and Nigerians that the selection process will be transparent.”
The minister spoke on 3 September 2020 in Abuja during an interaction with National Social Investment Program (NSIP) Focal Persons, Programme Managers and State Operations Coordinating Unit (SOCU) officers from all states of the country.
The N-Power programme falls under the purview of Farouq’s portfolio.
THE VERDICT:
Based on the information presented above, the claim that N-power has shortlisted names for its 2020 programme is FALSE.
