The Federal Government has announced that it will pay the backlog of the new ₦77,000 monthly allowance for members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after several months of delays.
The allowance increment, which was announced in September 2024, has yet to be implemented by the government.
The Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, made this backlog payment promise on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
The minister stated that the government will pay the ₦77,000 allowance, including backdated payments, to both serving corps members and those who were in the program when the increase was first announced.
He said, “You saw the new DG saying that you will get it, and they’re asking him a question‘What about those that are going out now, are they going to receive it [backlog]?’ He said, ‘We have your details’.”
“The backlog, we will work on it and make sure it is paid. It may not be immediate but it will happen.”
In September 2024, the Federal Government announced a new allowance for NYSC members better known as corpers much to the excitement of the participants of the youth scheme.
According to the Federal Government, the increment was in line with the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024..
However, the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Olakunle Nafiu, last week, asked corps members to expect the implementation of the new allowance in March, a move Olawande corroborated during the show.
“It will happen,” the minister said when asked if the corps members would start getting now-delayed allowance from this month.
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According to the minister, the delay in the implementation of the new NYSC members’ allowance is due to budgetary issues.
“I’ve explained this several times. Some people said, I always say ‘It is a process. It is a process.’ But it’s seriously a process. It’s a government line.
“You cannot do a corner piece to do it. 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.
“Before anybody can approve anything, you must have a budgetary allocation for it. But the budgetary allocation has been done now. We are done with the process and it has been approved. It has been signed, and now they can start paying it,” the minister said.
