Tension has hit military formations across the country following delay in the payment of Non-Regular Allowances (NRA) to operatives.
It was gathered that the delay in paying the NRA had created anxieties among frontline troops, weakening their resolve and motivation to fight insurgents, terrorists and bandits especially in the North.
A military officer, who spoke in confidence, appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene in the matter and ensure that the NRA is released first before other allowances.
The source said: “It is possible that the Accountant-General of the Federation doesn’t know the importance of the non-regular allowance to the military.
“It is called operational allowance for a reason because it is used to settle all monthly logistics for the frontline troops. It covers their feeding and other daily logistics. It is the engine that powers all operations in the military”.
The source said releasing such allowance late every month accounted for many problems faced by frontline troops.
He said: “These allowances are paid late every month and this is demotivating the troops. As at May 12th, the allowances had not been paid. This is creating tension in all the soldiers’ camps and making them to go cap in hand begging to take care of their needs and to feed.
“I am bringing this to the attention of Mr President because I do not want him to fail. The past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, maybe because he was once a soldier, prioritised the payment of these Non-regular allowances.
“He paid them before the first of every month and sometimes the first week of each month. He understood its importance to troops motivation and military operations”.
The source said instead of paying the NRA, the accountant-general was fond of releasing the regular allowance, which he said had no direct bearing to military operations.
He said: “The regular IPPIS has no direct bearing to operations and troops’ welfare. It can be paid later. The NRA should be the first to be paid. They are putting the cart before the horse and it is affecting operations especially in the North”.
He confirmed that the development could account for the reason why insurgents seemed to be overpowering troops in different camps in the North.
“President Tinubu should please stop the accountant-general from releasing this non-regular allowances late”, he said.