Nigeria, March 12 -- The claim was contained in a statement issued by the Office of the National Publicity Secretary of the beneficiaries' group following their earlier 10-day ultimatum to the Federal Government.

According to the statement, the DSS invitation came shortly after the group released a press statement warning that the continued delay in the payment of their stipends could force them to reconsider their political support for the ruling party.

"The Department of State Services (DSS), after seeing our press release threatening to withdraw support for the APC within the next 10 days if our stipends are not paid, appears to believe that we are being influenced by opposition politicians," the statement said.

The group further a...