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.