Nigerians Beware, There Is No 'Presidential N250,000 Youth Funds' From the Government

26 November 2024
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Precious Ewuji

Nigerians beware, there is no 'Presidential N250,000 Youth Funds' from the government

IN SHORT: There is no N250,000 (about US$147) "presidential youth funds" from the Nigerian government. These Facebook posts urging you to "apply today" are a scam and should be ignored.

Several posts on Facebook encourage users to apply for what they call the "Presidential N250,000 Youth Funds".

They feature a graphic with the logos of various banks operating in Nigeria. The graphic also shows Nigerian president Bola Tinubu's photo and a short form asking for the user's bank account number, full name and the state they live in.

The posts also have a link where users can supposedly apply for the funds.

Another version of the claim encourages users to apply for a "Presidential N300,000 Grant". All posts say this is an "ongoing" initiative and that users should "apply today".

But can these posts be trusted? We checked.

Don't fall for it!

Clicking on the link attached to the posts takes users to an unofficial-looking webpage that says: "Enter Account number to check name." By following the prompts on the webpage, users end up on a blog post about visa sponsorship opportunities in the US.

Perhaps in a bid to appear legit, the blog also features an image of Nigeria's coat of arms, with the words "FG GRANT" next to it. But there is no mention of the "presidential youth funds" or any grant on the blog.

We found it strange that the link did not take users to an official government website. If such a grant existed, it would have been posted on the presidency's official social media pages.

We checked the youth development ministry's website and found nothing on this, a major red flag.

On 1 October 2024, Tinubu announced that the government would host a 30-day national youth conference "to address the diverse challenges and opportunities confronting our young people". He was speaking during a nationwide broadcast to commemorate Nigeria's Independence Day. However, Tinubu did not mention a "presidential N250,000 youth funds" or "Presidential N300,000 Grant".

There is no such initiative from the Nigerian government, ignore social media posts claiming otherwise,

For tips on how to avoid online scams, read our guide here.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

Tagged:
Copyright © 2024 Africa Check. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.