In a brewing confrontation between organized labor and the Federal Government, discontent is growing among workers who claim the government has failed to sustain the payment of the N35,000 wage award promised to alleviate the impact of the fuel subsidy removal.
Federal Civil Service employees revealed in separate interviews on Monday that they only received the N35,000 wage award for the month of September. The agreement for the payment, initiated by President Bola Tinubu following the fuel subsidy removal, was set to commence from September 1, 2023, according to a memo signed by Ekpo Nta, the Chairman of the National Salaries, Wages, and Income Commission.
However, investigations suggest that the government has only honored the payment for the month of September, leaving workers puzzled and frustrated. A senior civil servant expressed confusion, stating, “We all are confused as there has been no official communication from the government as regards the matter.”
Another civil servant, speaking anonymously, voiced concerns about the government’s silence on the issue, saying, “Our take-home salaries cannot even take us home any longer at this point.”
A civil servant in a Federal Government-owned school in Abuja confirmed, “We only received for one month, which I assume was for September. The government needs to stop playing games with our emotions.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is not taking this situation lightly. Benson Upah, the Head of Information at the NLC, declared, “This betrays the government’s dishonorable intentions and is completely unacceptable.” When questioned about potential actions, Upah asserted, “Certainly, the congress will do something about this, but what it will do will be dependent on the appropriate organs of the congress.”
Contrary to workers’ concerns, the spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, assured that plans were underway to ensure that civil servants receive their wage awards. Mokwa stated, “The process is ongoing. They will be paid. The process to pay the wage awards has commenced.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Government, as revealed in the 2024 appropriation budget, has allocated N1tn for minimum wage adjustments, promotion arrears, and severance benefits for civil servants. However, the NLC is adamant against any imposition of a new minimum wage by the government. Upah emphasized that negotiations had yet to commence but expressed optimism that talks on the new minimum wage would start soon.
“The national minimum wage law is a product of collective negotiation by all the critical stakeholders,” Upah explained, “Thus, any unilateral action by any party will not only be presumptuous but contemptuous and injurious to other parties and will certainly be at variance with the law and principles governing this variant of minimum wage-setting procedure.”
