The federal government has that 5, 781 N-power beneficiaries have been forcefully exited out of the programme for truancy and absconding.
Afolabi Imoukheude, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President Mohammadu Buhari on Job Creation and Youth Employment, disclosed this while addressing some of the beneficiaries in Abuja.
Imoukheude said that those complaints received from the places of primary assignment of the affected beneficiaries were overwhelming.
He noted that N-Power beneficiaries had refused to comply with the federal government despite letters written to them to explain themselves.
Imoukheude said: “If you do not do the right thing and you are paid, you are stealing the money. Note that the funds are not mine but that of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We have been receiving enormous complaints that a lot of you no longer go to work. The headteacher in your Primary Place of Assignment (PPA) is your Buhari and have the responsibility to teach, monitor and educate you.
“I have some good news for most of you, 5,781 of you have been forcefully exited out of the programme because of disciplinary issues.
“Perhaps you will begin to believe that states have authority over you. We also receive reports of those who absconded and you know the terms and conditions attached to be an N-power beneficiary.
“There have been so many insinuations around ghost workers in N-power.
“There are no ghost workers in N-power, there cannot even be because having conducted a physical verification and confirming those who come into the programme for them not to exist.
“What happens to those who do not receive alert? It is because of validation and we try to contact you via phone number, email address to go regularise yourself with your bank and update your details.”