Beneficiaries and trainees of the 2014 Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P, Technical Vocational Education Training, TVET have decried non-payment of their take off grants after attending a 3 week empowerment programme nine months ago.

The trainees numbering about 85 and selected across the 36 states of the federation and trained in Water well drilling, borehole rehabilitation and maintenance also lamented that they were yet to be empowered with either equipment or funds to start up their businesses.

Team leader of the group, Aminu Haruna Maipampo, who spoke to newsmen in Kaduna yesterday said they were told at the commencement of the training that on completion of the 3 weeks programme, they would be given take-off grants to empower them and enable them to start up a business, but to their surprise, nine months after, they were yet to be paid a dime.

He alleged that some top officials in the SURE-P headquarter in Abuja diverted the funds meant for their payment into their own coffers.

Maipampo appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency intervene in the matter and ensure justice is done.

According to him, “it is with deep grievance that I on behalf of my colleagues address the press concerning the nonpayment of empowerment funds to the trainees of the Federal government SURE-P, TVET on the exercise held in Kaduna State from 24th November, 2014 to 13th December, 2014.

“As stated clearly in the SURE-P TVET brochure, its mandate is to reduce unemployment and poverty in Nigeria through the development of skills, building institutional capacity and investing in Technical and Vocational training infrastructure.

“Out of a large number of Nigerians who applied, 85 of us were selected across the country to undertake intensive training exercise in Borehole drilling, rehabilitation and maintenance for three weeks with the aim of turning us into self reliance individuals after completion of the training by empowering us with either equipments or funds to start up our own borehole drilling/maintenance businesses just the way it is obtainable in all other SURE-P empowerment programmes.

“Initially, privilege information we got, we were told each person will be given 600,000 naira on completion of the training. Later, we were told 400,000 naira but before the end of the three weeks training, we got another privilege information that we will be paid N250,000 and that electronic payment will require us giving them our bank detail, which we did. But we are yet to be paid a penny for the past 9 months.

“About nine months now after the training, we have made so much effort to see that the equipment or funds are been released to us, but to our disappointment, a reliable source in the SURE-P headquarters, Abuja, revealed to us that the funds meant for us have been diverted by some top officials in the SURE-P headquarters into their own coffers. Several attempts made to reach the officials in question have proved abortive.

“It is on this note that we call on President Muhammadu Buhari to in his anti-corruption crusade intervene in this matter,” the team leader explained.

Efforts to reach the Director TVET, SURE-P headquarters in Abuja, proved abortive as calls put through to his lines were not going through and when it eventually went through, he did not pick the calls, neither did he return with a call.