Pay Corps members ₦70,000 minimum wage NGO tells NYSC DG

 Kids In Need International, an Abuja based Non Governmental Organization (NGO) has threatened legal actions against the Director General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) over its failure to pay Corps members the minimum wage of ₦70,000.

Recall that after a protracted struggle by the organised labour and the Federal Government, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed into law the National Minimum Wage Bill (2019 as Amended) on the 29th of July 2024 which pegged the new minimum wage at ₦70,000 and was supposed to be effective in August 2024.

It is on record that despite the Presidential directive on the new minimum wage and the availability of funds, the management of NYSC deliberately refused to pay Corps members their August allowances of ₦70,000 as expected.

A letter from the chambers of TD Sorkaa and Associates, lawyers to Kids In Need International, a copy of which was sighted by our correspondent demanded that; the allowances of Corps members be paid in line with the new minimum wage without further delay and gave a thirty (30) day notice of their intention to sue the agency if their demands are not met.

“The deliberate failure of your agency to pay the ₦70,000 minimum has caused Corps members untold hardship particularly with the high inflation the country is currently facing especially the high cost of food items and transportation. We shall, therefore, fight until justice is done”, the letter is quoted to have stated.

The letter which was copied to the President Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Honourable Minister of Youths and Sports Development, threatened to sue the agency on behalf of their clients at the Federal High Court Abuja at the expiration of the 30 days notice if their demands are not met.