The Bauchi State Economic Council has approved monthly stipends for imams and pastors across the state.
Governor Bala Mohammed chaired the council meeting on Friday, with senior officials from the state’s finance and revenue sectors in attendance.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, the Head of the Bauchi State Civil Service, Barrister Mohammed Sani Umar, said the council agreed that imams in Juma’at mosques and Christian clerics of different denominations should receive monthly allowances.
He explained that the payments will cover religious leaders regardless of their sect or church affiliation.
“The final step is to work out the economic and financial implications for the effective implementation of this policy,” Umar said.
He also revealed that the council discussed plans to begin salary payments for newly appointed emirs and district heads in the state.
According to him, the government has already made sufficient financial arrangements to support the payments.
In a related development, the governor’s Chief Economic Adviser, Alhaji Yahuza Adamu Haruna, said the council reviewed how salaries are managed in the state.
He explained that the government partnered with Onyx Investment Advisory Limited to clean up the payroll and remove ghost workers.
The exercise, he said, uncovered more than 3,000 fictitious names on the payroll, helping the state save over N4.16 billion.
“By August 2024, the state government took over salary payments from the consulting firm. Previously, the process was riddled with complaints, but since the exercise was concluded, there have been no further complaints,” Haruna said.
