The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has accused the Federal Ministry of Youth Development and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) of failing to pay the backlog of increased monthly allowances amounting to N77,000 per person to over 618,000 former corps members who exited the scheme between February and November 2024.

In a statement by the group’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA alleged that despite repeated promises by government officials, including the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, and the NYSC Director General, Olakunle Nafiu, the payments remain outstanding for months after the corps members concluded their service.

According to HURIWA, affected ex-corps members include; Batch A Stream one, who passed out on February 15, 2024; Batch A Stream two, who passed out on April 17, 2024; Batch B Stream one, passed out on June 26, 2024; Batch B Stream two that passed out July 31, 2024; Batch C Stream one that passed out on October 23, 2024 and Batch C Stream two that passed out on November 21, 2024.

The group said that approximately 103,000 corps members were deployed in each of the six streams, totalling about 618,000 ex-corps members still owed allowances from the increase announced in September 2024 but only implemented in March 2025.

The Federal Government had increased the monthly NYSC allowance from N33,000 to N77,000 as part of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024. Despite this announcement, payment did not begin until March 24, 2025.

The government also promised to pay arrears to those who served during the transition period, but had exited the scheme before implementation.
Speaking on a televised programme in March, Olawande assured that the backlogs would be paid. He stated that it may not be immediate, but it will happen. He attributed the delay to budgetary constraints, noting that the new allowance had not initially been factored into the 2024 budget.

However, HURIWA maintained that no clear explanation has been provided for the continued delay in payment, even as of May 2025.
“A government built on transparency and accountability would have come back to Nigerians through the media to offer acceptable and verifiable reasons why both the ministry and the NYSC failed to keep their promise,” HURIWA stated.

The group called on the Ministry of Youth Development and the NYSC leadership to immediately provide answers and settle all outstanding allowances, stressing that many ex-corps members are now job-seeking and financially vulnerable.