Delegates to the ongoing National Conference are worried that their allowances have been suddenly stopped .An official who confirmed the delay in payment to Newsdiaryonline.com however said things have been sorted out and the delegates will soon receive their bank alerts
By Danlami Nmodu
There are rumblings among national conference delegates over the delay in the payment of their financial entitlements simply referred to as allowances.Newsdiaryonline.com learnt that the delegates have not been paid their allowances for almost two weeks now.This sudden stoppage of allowances has given vent to speculations-some say ‘mischievously ‘- about why the Presidency may have decided to stop funding the conference.
An official at the confab secretariat confirmed to Newsdiaryonline.com that there is indeed the issue of delay in payment of allowances ,but he insisted the issue has been sorted out and that soon the delegates will soon smile to the bank.
But some delegates who spoke to Newsdiaryonline.com before this confirmation by the confab official said they have curiously not been paid.
“We have even reached out to those concerned about financial matters at the confab secretariat and they seemed helpless too. In effect,no one knows when the allowances for the delegates will be paid”one of the delegates contacted said at the weekend.
Another delegate expressed suspicion that the Presidency may actually no longer be interested in the confab after its major secret plots ( the alleged hidden) have been shot down by the delegates so far.
According to him ,one of the main reasons for the conference was to have endorse a tenure elongation plot.This has up till now failed to materialize.
Also, the source claimed that the office of the First Lady had mobilized some delegates to ensure that constitutional duties were assigned to the First Lady’s office henceforth .Generally, the hidden designs have collapsed -or so it seems for now- at the confab as the delegates have exhibited unexpected ‘independence.’
So when the financial pipes suddenly ran dry,some of the delegates said they could understand where this was be coming from-The presidency.”We are afraid ,these allowances may no longer be paid”,one delegate said.
Newsdiaryonline.com however contacted the secretariat of the conference to find out if in deed the allowances of delegates have been delayed and why?The online newspaper also wanted to know whether the presidency stopped it deliberately as alleged.
Assistant Secretary, Media And Communications at the confab secretariat ,Mr Akpandem James in his reply to the question sent to him by email confirmed to Newsdiaryonline.com that there has been a delay in the payment of delegates’allowances.But he added this delay has nothing to do with the presidency nor the ‘direction’ of the debate at the conference.
James told Newsdiaryonline.com via email:“It is true that there has been a delay in the payment of delegate’s allowance, but it has nothing to do with the Presidency and the direction in which the Conference is going. Any keen observer would admit that the direction the Conference has taken, and is taking, is entirely dictated by the delegates and only guided by the Conference Management in terms of rules of procedure and logistics.”
The spokesman of the confab said further“The delay in payment of allowances was neither caused by procedures at the Conference Secretariat nor act of any Conference official as being allegedly insinuated by some delegates and being speculated by a section of the media.”
From James’ assertion, it could be inferred that nothing or nobody is responsible for the delay in payment of the allowances.
He however gave assurances the problem was being sorted out .“ However, the situation has been sorted out. Allowances of all those involved in the Conference, including delegates, should be paid by this weekend or latest by Monday if the Thursday public holiday (Democracy Day) affects transfers.”
Whether his assurances will douse the suspicion generated by the sudden stoppage of financial entitlements to the delegates remain to be seen.
