The Bauchi State Government has announced plans to provide monthly stipends to imams and pastors across the state.
The decision came during a State Economic Council meeting presided over by Governor Bala Mohammed, with key financial and revenue stakeholders in attendance.
Briefing journalists after the closed-door session, Head of Service Mohammed Sani Umar Esq. and Chief Economic Advisor to the Governor, Alhaji Yahuza Adamu Haruna, disclosed the development.
The Head of Service stated,b “the council deliberated on the issue while the governor approved the payment of the monthly stipends to imams of various Juma’at mosques across the state and pastors in various churches.”
The council, however, did not specify the amount of the stipend or the criteria for selecting beneficiaries.
HOC emphasized, “the issues of allowances for imams and pastors is irrespective of sects and denominations. The last step that we are going to take is to get the economic and financial implications for the implementations.”
He also revealed that the meeting discussed salary payments for newly appointed emirs and district heads across the state, assuring that the government has made adequate provisions to sustain them.
On his part, Chief Economic Advisor Yahuza Adamu Haruna highlighted the council’s efforts in streamlining the state’s salary administration. “The economic council meeting deliberated on the state’s salary administration where he said they worked with a consulting firm to identify and fish out over three thousand ghost workers, saving the state over N4 billion. As God will have it, in August 2024 we took over the salary payment of the state from a consulting firm, and the salary payment was full of complaints but since the exercise was done no body complaint again,” he added.
