- President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered what is known as “special allowance” for security personnel in the Presidential Villa.
- Before the coming of the Buhari Administration, all security personnel posted to the Villa were being paid what is known as Risk and Hazard Allowance.
- President Buhari was said to have refused to pay the money to them.
- During the last regime, it was gathered that senior security officers covering the Villa were said to have been collecting between N75,000 and N50,000 while their junior ones received between N30,000 and N25,000 on a monthly basis.
- One of the affected officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “About two weeks ago, an assistant superintendent of one of the agencies called us and told us that the ADC met all the heads of the security agencies in the Villa where the news was broken to them.
“Our own head also met us and warned us to desist from carrying rumours about the money. He said that the ADC told them that no money was being released to the guards, as being speculated.”
- It was further gathered that the leaders of the affected security organs were told that the officers manning the Villa should be contented with their monthly salaries.
- Besides, it was also gathered that the Chief Security Officer, Bashir Abubarkar, had written two letters to the National Security Adviser, Gen. Babagana Monguno(retd.) on the issue of the RCA, but was said to have been told that such allowance was illegal and that the President had asked that it be stopped.
- Efforts made to get the reaction of the Presidency failed as calls made to the telephone number of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Mallam Garba Shehu, were not answered.
