The Federal Government has announced the opening of the Youth Economic Intervention and De-Radicalization Programme (YEIDEP) Batch B recruitment portal for beneficiaries nationwide on Monday, March 9, 2026, as part of efforts to empower up to 20 million Nigerian youths with a N500,000 startup grant.
The announcement was made in a statement released on Thursday by the Coordinator-General of the programme, Comrade Kennedy Iyere, who urged eligible Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 50 to take part in the recruitment exercise.
According to the statement, the initiative is designed to provide financial support and structured empowerment opportunities to young Nigerians, with the aim of promoting entrepreneurship and reducing the risks associated with widespread youth unemployment across the country.
The programme organisers explained that YEIDEP seeks to stimulate economic participation among youths by providing startup capital alongside support mechanisms that encourage self-employment and sustainable business development.
Iyere noted that the initiative forms part of broader national efforts to address the growing challenges linked to youth poverty, unemployment and vulnerability to social instability.
“YEIDEP aims to empower 20 million youths with startup capital as a way of promoting entrepreneurship and self-employment among young people, which is the surest means of generating mass employment for youths,” he said.
He added that expanding economic opportunities for young Nigerians remains critical to tackling the underlying social pressures caused by unemployment and economic exclusion.
“YEIDEP’s core mandate is to tackle Nigeria’s chronic youth unemployment, youth poverty and youth hopelessness, and also their imposed threats of youth radicalization, socio-political instability, national insecurity and economic unproductivity,” Iyere stated.
The organisers explained that the Batch B recruitment process will follow a different registration approach compared to the earlier Batch A phase.
Unlike the first phase, which relied largely on online registration and digital data capture, applicants in Batch B will be required to visit designated partner banks physically to open a YEIDEP bank account as part of the official registration process.
The statement emphasised that opening a YEIDEP bank account is the only recognised method of becoming a verified participant in the programme and a potential beneficiary of the empowerment grant.
Participants were also reminded that the registration process is completely free and that applicants should report any attempt by bank officials or intermediaries to demand payment during the process.
The recruitment exercise will take place nationwide, with the exception of Kano State, where the process will be handled separately by the state government through a newly established Kano State YEIDEP Steering Committee under the leadership of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
Programme officials also clarified that individuals who successfully registered during the Batch A recruitment phase and already possess confirmed YEIDEP bank accounts will not be eligible to participate in the new recruitment process.
However, applicants who registered during Batch A but did not receive confirmed YEIDEP bank accounts have been encouraged to take part in the Batch B exercise.
The statement further warned applicants against submitting multiple registrations, stressing that anyone found engaging in duplicate applications would be automatically disqualified from the programme.
“We also strictly want to warn against double or multiple registration, as anyone found guilty of such shall be disqualified automatically,” Iyere cautioned.
Authorised partner banks for the recruitment exercise include Fidelity Bank, Keystone Bank, Alpha Morgan Bank, Wema Bank, Union Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, United Bank for Africa, Ecobank and Lotus Bank.
