The Bauchi State Government has announced payment of monthly stipend to imams and pastors in the state.

The State Economic Council meeting presided by the Governor Bala Mohammed and other financial and revenue stakeholders of the state in attendance, agreed to pay clergies monthly.

Briefing the press after a closed door meeting, the Head of Service, Mohammed Sani Umar Esq. and the Chief Economic Advisor to the Governor, Alh Yahuza Adamu Haruna, made this known.

The head of service said 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 did not state the amount of the stipend and the mechanism to select the beneficiaries.

HOC said that “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 added that the council meeting discussed on the commencement of payment of salaries to the newly created emirs and district heads across the state and that government has made adequate cash flow for their sustenance.

On his part the Chief Economic Advisor, Yahuza Adamu Haruna, said 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. (Guardian)