SHOCKING: Okonjo-Iweala terminates SURE-P

Okonjo-Iweala terminates SURE-P Over fraud

Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iwela, has directed the immediate termination of the partnership with FORCECOM Networks Ltd., on the Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) under the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment programme (SURE).

This was contained in a statement issued to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja by Mr Suleiman Haruna, Communication Specialist to SURE- P.

The statement said the minister further directed that the firm should be investigated by the security agencies.

The minister said the firm should be investigated for deploying interns to work on mobile money business months after they were deployed to the company.

She also accused the firm for presenting `time sheets’ which showed that the interns had worked and requested payment of their monthly stipend when they did not work.

According to the statement, the GIS guideline stipulated that interns should be paid for the number of days they worked every month.

The statement said the Managing Director of the frim; Mr. Paul Okafor coerced interns to sign undertaking to pay N7, 500 of their monthly stipend for training with Lekki Business School.

It also alleged that the company fraudulently convinced graduates to register in Jan. 2015 and set their hire date as Nov. 2