Personnel of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) have raised concerns over the non-payment of their promotion allowances by the Ministry of Interior since 2022.
In discussions with SaharaReporters, affected officers revealed that the ministry had ceased all allowance payments, with promotion arrears last received in 2021.
Officers promoted between 2022 and 2024 have yet to receive their arrears, despite numerous appeals and protests to the authorities.
“It’s becoming the norm and it has to stop. Although we are not quite sure if the Federal Government isn’t paying the arrears. Our plight now is that it seems the interior ministry won’t pay the arrears,” one officer stated, emphasizing the significance of these arrears for civil servants.
The amount of promotion arrears varies depending on the ranks of the officers, with some entitled to N50,000 for 12 months and others to N10,000 for the same period.
Efforts to obtain a response from the NIS spokesperson, Adedotun Aridegbe, were unsuccessful as calls and messages went unanswered.
This issue adds to previous grievances among NIS personnel, as SaharaReporters had reported in December 2023 that officers deployed for the Bayelsa State governorship election had not received their allowances nearly five weeks after the event.
Despite utilizing personal funds during the election, the officers had not been refunded as expected, prompting calls for prompt action from the NIS authorities.
“We are calling on the NIS authorities, interior minister to pay our allowances and let it not be ‘promise and fail’ as usual,” one officer emphasized.
Another officer highlighted past instances where funds were mobilized for similar purposes but were potentially misappropriated if not brought to public attention.
The delay in promotion allowance payments and election allowances underscores the challenges faced by NIS personnel and calls for transparency and accountability within the service.
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