By Abdulrasheed HAMMAD
The Claim
FALSE claim circulates online that N-Power has shortlisted the names of the successful applicants and the documentation will commence immediately. A post obtained on a WhatsApp group on November 13, instructed the applicants to click the link to check their names.
The post reads: ”Check your name on the N-POWER shortlisted names. Documentation will commence immediately. Check here https://n-power-list.bid.”
Recall that the same fake post with different content was also procured on September, 3 that N-power 2020 has shortlisted for its second stage.
The post also reads: “N-power 2020 has shortlisted for its second stage. Check if you are included or forward to your loved ones who applied.”
The Findings
The findings conducted by this reporter unveiled that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs through its official Twitter account has tagged the purported circular going viral on social media as fake, urged the N-power applicants to disregard the fake news.
When this reporter clicked the link, the site asked this reporter to input his phone number and upon inserting the phone number that wasn’t used to register for N-power, this reporter received a congratulatory message on the website.
“Congratulations, you have been shortlisted for the N-power program! You will be reached through the email on the next thing to do. Always ensure you check your e-mail frequently.”
Meanwhile, this reporter didn’t submit an email to the site and they promised to reach him via email.
They, however, claimed that to qualify for documentation, this reporter needs to share it to 12 WhatsApp groups.
The post reads: “To start your documentation. First, click the green button ‘WHATSAPP’ and send this information to 12 WhatsApp groups. After sending the message, you will go to the next step where you will be able to process your documentation.”
After the post is being shared to the 12 WhatsApp group, this reporter was congratulated once again and was asked to select the device this reporter was using for documentation between the laptop and phone.
Consequently, this reporter was continuously asked to allow the site to send notifications. Till now, this reporter didn’t receive any mail as claimed on the website and no procedure was sent to proceed for documentation.
Verdict
Based on the checks above and personal experience of this reporter on the fake N-power website, the claim that N-power has shortlisted the names of N-power successful applicants is FALSE.
As of the time of fact-checking this, the site is still active.