GIS participants bemoan non-payment of stipends

                                                 
PARTICIPANTS in the Graduate Internship Scheme, GIS, in Edo State, have complained of the non-payment of their monthly stipend of N30,000 in the last six months by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

The participants who spoke yesterday, in Benin on the condition of anonymity, described the non- payment of their stipends as the greatest challenge facing them, adding that they have been unable to make ends meet even in the areas of their primary assignments.

The participants who are currently attending a workshop on Career Development and Entrepreneurship Training in Benin, Edo State, appealed to the Federal Government to pay their stipends before the internship programme winds up.

However, an official of the Finance Ministry, who did not want his name in print, attributed the delay in the payment of the stipends to the introduction of the Single Treasury Account, TSA, by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

She said that once funds were made available, the stipends would be paid.

Earlier, Mr. Peter Papka, Project Director, Graduate Internship scheme, career development and entrepreneurship training for interns in the ministry, said, the training was to evaluate the job market and the interns’ understanding of entrepreneurship development before their exit from the programme.

He said government was optimistic that the participants acquired skills and experience had placed them in a position to contribute meaningfully to national development.