After months of uncertainty, the Federal Government has reassured members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) that the backlog of their newly approved ₦77,000 monthly allowance will be paid.
Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, made this commitment on Monday while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today. He affirmed that serving corps members, as well as those in the scheme when the increment was announced in September 2024, would receive backdated payments.
“The backlog, we will work on it and make sure it is paid. It may not be immediate, but it will happen,” Olawande stated.
In September 2024, the Federal Government increased corps members’ monthly stipend from ₦33,000 to ₦77,000 in line with the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024. However, six months after the announcement, the new allowance is yet to be implemented, despite repeated assurances.
Last week, the Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, hinted that corps members should expect the payment to commence in March 2025. Olawande echoed this statement, explaining that the delay was due to budgetary constraints.
Addressing concerns about the delay, the minister explained that financial approvals take time, and the payment could not be implemented immediately after the presidential announcement.
“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,” he said.
He assured corps members that all necessary budgetary allocations had now been finalized, paving the way for payments to commence.
With the minister’s assurance, corps members across the country now await the long-overdue implementation of their new allowance, hoping that this latest promise translates into action.
