The Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the increase of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) allowance from 19,800 to 30,000.
The Nation reports that the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed disclosed this to journalists at a press conference on Thursday, May 16.
The Minister also revealed that states are to share N649 billion – the final tranche of the Paris Club Refund.
Ahmed debtor-states will have to settle their debts soon, adding that the Federal Government plans to begin the final phase of the debt refund.
Her words: “The total sum of N649.434 billion was verified by the ministry as the outstanding balance to be refunded to the state governments,” Ahmed said.
She, however, noted that the Federal Government is still working out modalities before the implementation of the new allowance for corps members.
“The financial implications have been worked out by the presidential committee that was set up and they have submitted their report to the President and the President has directed the report to us. We have looked at the report and what we are working on now is how we can finance the new minimum wage.
“Apart from the increase of the minimum wage from N18, 000 to N30,000, there is also a consequential adjustment that we have to negotiate with the labour unions.
‘The total financial implications will be determined after negotiations. The negotiation will determine what every other staff that is above the minimum wage will get. It could be a flat amount or a progression.
“The other aspect that should be clear is that there is an increase for the NYSC as well because NYSC, by its Act, is designed that they earn the minimum wage. So, NYSC allowance also has to increase to N30, 000. So, I cannot give you projections right now because the negotiations are not yet concluded,” she added.