Fact Check: Has Npower Released The Batch C List Of Successful Candidates?

A viral post on social media and some online media platforms has claimed that the federal government social intervention scheme, Npower has released the list of successful candidates for the 2020 Batch C recruitment exercise.

The post which originated on Thursday, 3rd September 2020 has continued to spread like wildfire across many other platforms.

The Claim

The post claimed the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development (FMHDS) in Nigeria has shortlisted candidates for its 2020 Batch C N-Power programme.

It also included a link for applicants to check their names.

Verification

An investigation by this reporter shows that the website link included in the post is different from the authentic website created for the Npower programme by the federal government.

The original website address is https://npower.fmhds.gov.ng, but the fake website changed the dots after ‘Npower’ and after ‘fmhds’ to hyphens to make it a cloned site.

Similarly, the Minister whose Ministry is in charge of the programme, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq who spoke on the same day the post went viral, noted that the Batch C recruitment is still in the review stage and the process will be made transparent.

She spoke during an interactive meeting in Abuja with state focal persons of the National Social Investment Program (NSIPs).

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 Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development also later released a statement on the viral claim in which it urged members of the public to disregard any list circulating on the shortlisted candidates for the Batch C Npower programme as fake.

It added that the authentic list will be released on its official handles once the review process is complete.

NOTICE: Beware of fraudsters!
We will communicate through our official channels. pic.twitter.com/Gc9TZmVywa

— Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs (@FMHDSD) September 3, 2020

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Please disregard,
Kindly share and help us in checking these fraudulent messages. pic.twitter.com/fsSsyupcEt

— Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs (@FMHDSD) September 3, 2020

The Verdict

The viral claim that a list of successful candidates for the Batch C Npower programme has been released is false. The recruitment is still in the review stage.