FG to pay NYSC members delayed allowance on Friday

Minister of Youth Development, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi, on Wednesday assured corps members across the country that their delayed allowances would be paid latest on Friday.

Abdullahi gave the assurance after an outcry by corps members over the delay in the payment of their allowances.

He told State House correspondents that he had extracted a commitment from the Director-General of the National Youth Service  Corps, Brigadier-General Nnamdi Okore-Afia, that the delayed allowances would be paid by Friday.

The minister blamed the NYSC authorities for failing to explain the cause of the delay to the corps members.

He said, “The problem is that at the point that the allowances are being delayed, the NYSC ought to have come out to explain to the corps members why the allowances will be delayed.”

He explained that the delay in payments of allowances to corps  members was due to the transition to a new accounting system.

In a statement by his Special Asistant on Media, Mr. Julius Ogunro, on Tuesday, Abdullahi said the delay was not unique to corps members alone adding that some civil servants in the employ of the Federal Government were also affected by the development.

Abdullahi said, “The delay in the payment of corps members allownace for the month of April   is not deliberate. It is as a result of the transition to the new and better secured integrated payroll payment system, as part of government’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

“Besides,  the delay is not unique to corps members but also affects some civil servants in the employ of the Federal Government.”

Meanwhile, the delay in the payment of the corpers allowance may not be unconnected with the delay in the release of money into the Federation Account by the NNPC which has also delayed the release of the April allocation to the states.