Labour groups are clashing with the Federal Government due to inconsistent payments of the agreed N35,000 wage award to federal workers.
Federal Civil Service workers report that the government only fulfilled the N35,000 wage payment for September, falling short of ongoing commitments.
The N35,000 wage was introduced to mitigate the impact of fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu, with payments starting from September 2023.
Despite a formal announcement by the National Salaries Wages and Income Commission, the government has not consistently upheld the wage payment agreement.
A senior civil servant in one of the core ministries, departments, and agencies who spoke with Punch said, “The wage award was only paid once and I assume that was the one for September. Since then, we have not received another. We all are confused as there has been no official communication from the government as regards the matter. We are all confused at the moment.”
Another civil servant, said, “What you heard is true. We have not received anything else other than the initial wage award which was paid. The government cannot continue to let the citizens suffer. Our take-home salaries cannot even take us home any longer at this point.”
A civil servant in one of the Federal Government-owned schools in Abuja noted that the workers were only paid the wage award for one month.
The civil servant said, “We only received for one month which I assume was for September. Though the peculiar allowance introduced by the former administration is still being paid alongside our salaries, we have not received any such thing as a wage award. The government needs to stop playing games with our emotions.”
The Head of information at the Nigeria Labour Congress, Benson Upah, in an interview with Punch said, “This betrays the government’s dishonorable intentions and is completely unacceptable.”
When asked if the NLC would take action, he said, “Certainly, the congress will do something about this but what it will do will be dependent on the appropriate organs of the congress. On communication with the government, sure, we will. It usually precedes our actions.”
The spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, however, allayed fears of civil servants.
Mokwa noted that plans were ongoing to ensure that civil servants receive their wage awards.
He said, “The process is ongoing. They will be paid. The process to pay the wage awards has commenced.”
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