Real truth emerges over claim Nigerian govt increased NYSC corps members' allowance to N77,000

• Reports online alleged that the Nigerian government has increased remuneration for corps members
• The claim comes after the government and the labour unions agreed on a new minimum wage of N70,000
• Using a tool that monitors disinformation, Legit.ng investigated the claim and shared its findings

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 4 years of experience in fact-checking.

FCT, Abuja - Claims have appeared online claiming the Nigerian government has increased remuneration for corps members.

Legit.ng reports that Nigerians who completed bachelor’s degrees or its equivalent under the age of 30 are mandated by law to participate in the one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme. They are currently being paid N33,000 monthly allowance.

Corps members currently receive N33,000 as their monthly allowance for their one-year mandatory service. Photo credit: @officialnyscng
Source: Twitter

It would be recalled that earlier in July, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved N70,000 as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

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On Monday, July 29, the Nigerian leader signed the new minimum wage bill into law.

Amid the minimum wage increment, rumours — especially within the NYSC members’ circle — started circulating that the corps members would be receiving at least N70,000 as their monthly allowance.

An NYSC participant who spoke to Legit.ng but asked to be anonymous because corps members are not allowed to speak with the press, said she hopes the alleged new pay is effected by August 31.

“They actually paid us N33,000 this month (July). I hope that will change by next month.”“For this reported increment, I say kudos to the authorities.”

In the same vein, an Enugu-based corps member who believed the ‘news’, explained to Legit.ng on Tuesday evening, July 30:

“As a result of the economic challenges in the country, the government has yielded to the demands of the labourers and has increased the minimum wage of federal workers including corps members from 33,000 naira to 70,000 naira.“The bill has been accepted and approved by the senate and prompt payment is expected to start August 2024.”

Verification of alleged NYSC allawee increment

Considering how rife the claim was and because many Nigerians expect that corps members' allowance will be raised following the increase of the new minimum wage to N70,000, Legit.ng decided to do a spot-check.

Following its scrutiny, Legit.ng can conclude that there is no evidence to back the claim at the time of this report, as both the federal government and NYSC have not released any official statement to that effect.

Also, using MyAIFactChecker, a tool created to counter the spread of misinformation and disinformation in Africa, Legit.ng found out that no credible media has reported the alleged increment in 'corpers' allowance.

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Why Tinubu should increase NYSC allawee, lawyer

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that President Tinubu has been urged to consider increasing the allowance of NYSC members after considering N70,000 as the minimum wage.

Barrister Oladotun Hassan, in an interview with Legit.ng, maintained that the corps members are not in the circle of the employed civil servant but their allowance can be increased to the minimum wage based on the current living conditions.

Source: Legit.ng