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| Aso Rock |
There
is currently a disquiet among security operatives attached to the Presidential
Villa, Abuja, over their unpaid allowances.
If
not addressed quickly, the situation, our correspondent learnt on Wednesday,
might degenerate into a security breach.
Sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity said
“loyalty of the security operatives had dropped drastically” over the
non-payment of the allowance.
It was learnt that under former President Goodluck Jonathan, all security agents
attached to the Presidential Villa enjoyed what they called Risk Cautious
Allowance.
The security officers include those of the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police,
Department of State Services, Nigerian Intelligence Agency, Federal Road Safety
Commission and Fire Service.
It
was learnt that Jonathan’s administration paid the allowance up until March
last year and left those of April and May unpaid.
The
operatives are however regretting that since the inception of the present
administration, they have not been paid.
Following
a media report last year that President Muhammadu Buhari had stopped the
payment of the allowance, it was learnt that the security operatives
were told by their bosses that the RCA had not been stopped as reported.
They
said they were not only assured that they would be paid, but were also promised
that the rate would be reviewed upward.
In
the past, senior officers were said to be receiving about N30,000 per month
while junior officers get about N25,000.
To
assure the operatives of government’s readiness to continue the payment, they
were said to have been asked to open bank accounts with Zenith Bank Plc where
their RCA will subsequently be paid.
One
of the operatives however said since last year that they opened the bank accounts,
the government had not fulfilled its promise of paying the allowance.
A
top Presidency official, who pleaded anonymity, however, said
that the security operatives’ allowances had been approved in January.
He
expressed the belief that payments would soon be made to those concerned.
When
contacted on the telephone, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and
Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, declined comment, saying the matter is a security
issue.
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