The Federal Civil Servants acknowledged on Thursday night that they had finally received their October 2023 wage awards after a months-long temporary payment suspension.
The Federal Government and Organized Labour reached an agreement leading to the N35,000 wage award payment. This pact aimed to soften the impact of removing the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, commonly referred to as petrol.
President Bola Tinubu, in his Independence Day address, declared the approval of a N25,000 wage for “low-grade workers” in the Federal Civil Service.
Subsequently, the amount was raised to N35,000 after discussions with organized labor unions.
The government, in a memo signed by the Chairman, National Salaries Wages and Income Commission, Ekpo Nta, stated that the payment of the wage award would begin to take effect from September 1, 2023.
However, findings by our correspondent indicated that the government only paid the wage award for September.
Civil servants in Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies had said they only received the wage awards for September 2023.
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The regrettable occurrence occurred amid reports that the government had reduced the wage award allocation by N100 billion in the 2023 supplementary budget.
Describing the government’s action as dishonorable, the Nigeria Labour Congress warned, while the Trade Union Congress urged the government to fulfill the wage awards or face potential industrial action.
However, a senior civil servant, in conversation with journalists, disclosed that certain civil servants have already started receiving the wage award for October 2023.
“In my agency, we received the arrears for October 2023 and nothing else was paid again. The wage award for November and December was not paid; it (the one paid) is only for October 2023. Remember they owed us the sum of N105,000.”
The spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant General, Bawa Mokwa, however said all civil servants would receive their wage awards as soon as possible.