The Federal Government has resumed the payment of the ₦35,000 wage award to Federal Civil Servants, confirming the receipt of their October 2023 wage awards after a temporary suspension of payment. This wage award was initially agreed upon between the Federal Government and Organized Labour as a measure to mitigate the impact of the subsidy removal on Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol.
President Bola Tinubu had announced in his Independence Day speech that “low-grade workers” in the Federal Civil Service would receive a wage of ₦25,000. Following discussions with organized labor unions, this amount was later increased to ₦35,000.
According to a memo signed by the Chairman of the National Salaries Wages and Income Commission, Ekpo Nta, the payment of the wage award was slated to begin from September 1, 2023. However, investigations revealed that the government only disbursed the wage award for September.
Civil servants in Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies reported receiving wage awards only for September 2023. This issue arose amid reports that the government had reduced the wage award allocation by ₦100bn in the 2023 supplementary budget.
The Nigeria Labour Congress criticized the government’s actions as dishonorable, and the Trade Union Congress warned of potential industrial action if civil servants were not promptly paid the wage awards.
A senior civil servant disclosed to the media that some civil servants have begun receiving the wage award for October 2023. However, this payment only covers October, and wage awards for November and December remain unpaid, despite the outstanding sum of ₦105,000.
The spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant General, Bawa Mokwa, assured that all civil servants would receive their wage awards as soon as possible.
