The National Youth Service Corps has cited the absence of “cash backing” as the reason for the delay in paying corps members the new N77,000 minimum wage.
Caroline Embu, the NYSC spokesperson, confirmed this on Monday while responding to an inquiry from The PUNCH.
“The cash backing is still being awaited,” she stated in a brief response.
Her statement comes as the National Association of Nigerian Students expressed dissatisfaction with the delayed payment on Monday.
NANS condemned the NYSC in a statement signed by its National Vice President for Inter-Campus Affairs, Sileola Akinbodunse, for failing to implement the new wage months after the Federal Government approved it in July 2024.
Akinbodunse stated that corps members were paid only N33,000 for their February allowance last Friday, instead of the N70,000 that had been promised by the NYSC Director-General.
She highlighted that while the Federal Government and various state governments have begun paying the new minimum wage, the NYSC has yet to do so and has not provided an explanation for the delay.
Akinbodunse described it as a “gross injustice,” insisting that corps members should not be receiving the old allowance while government workers are already benefiting from the wage increase.
NANS has called for an investigation into the NYSC’s management of the wage adjustment, urging the Federal Government to look into the cause of the delay.
Akinbodunse also cautioned that delaying the approved allowance could lower the morale of corps members, especially in light of the difficult economic circumstances facing the country.
She said, “The leadership of the student body would equally interface with the NYSC to find out why corps members are yet to benefit from the new minimum wage of N77,000, even when staff of the NYSC are receiving the increase in pay from the Federal Government.”
