FCT, Abuja – The federal government on Monday, March 24, assured members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) that the backlog of their newly-approved N77,000 monthly allowance will be paid.
Legit.ng reports that the assurance comes amid months of delay.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’, monitored by Legit.ng, minister of youth development, Ayodele Olawande, reaffirmed the Bola Tinubu’s administration commitment to fulfilling its promise to corps members.
Olawande said:
“The backlog, we will work on it and make sure it is paid. It may not be immediate, but it will happen. You saw the new DG (Olakunle Nafiu) saying that you will get it, and they’re asking him a question ‘What are those that are going out now, are they going to receive it (backlog)?’ He said we have your details.”
Recall that the government in September 2024 announced an upward review of corps members’ allowance from N33,000 to N77,000, aligning with the national minimum wage (Amendment) Act 2024. However, six months after the announcement, Corps members are yet to receive the new pay.
Last week, NYSC boss, Brigadier General Nafiu, assured corps members that payments would begin in March. Olawande corroborated this, emphasising that administrative and budgetary processes were responsible for the delay.
The minister explained:
“I’ve explained this several times. Some people say I always say, ‘It is a process.’ But it’s seriously a process. It was not in the budget when the president announced it, and for some agencies and parastatals, you need your salary to be in the budget before it is paid.”
Furthermore, the minister noted that necessary approvals have now been secured.
He said:
“The budgetary allocation has been done. We are done with the process, it has been approved, it has been signed, and now they can start paying it.”
Why NYSC delayed N77k new allawee
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the NYSC blamed funding for the delay in paying corps members the new N77,000 allowance.
The NYSC attributed its inability to commence payment of the allowance to corps members on lack of “cash backing.”
