Federal government employees across Nigeria will begin receiving their updated minimum wage payments today, Thursday, September 26, 2024, according to Bawa Mokwa, spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. However, there remains uncertainty about whether the payments will include arrears for previous months.
“Federal Government civil servants will start receiving the new minimum wage from today, but I am not sure about the arrears,” Mokwa revealed in an interview with the Daily Post.
The new wage structure comes after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved a ₦70,000 minimum wage on July 18, 2024, which was later enacted into law by the Senate. This marks a significant development in federal employees’ compensation, as the National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission (NSIWC) confirmed the government’s endorsement of an increase in the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS).
While previous announcements indicated that the revised wage would take effect from May 1, 2024, the current arrangement will see payments retroactively applied from July 29, 2024. This means federal employees could receive only two months’ worth of arrears** if the disbursement is processed by the end of October.
The revised salary structure follows deliberations by the Committee on Consequential Adjustments in Salaries for Civil Servants, led by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, which proposed that the wage increase be backdated to July 29, 2024.
However, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC)l have expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s decision, calling it “unfair and unacceptable” after an earlier promise from the Minister of State for Labour, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, that the increase would be effective from May 2024. Despite these criticisms, NSIWC Chairman Ekpo Nta defended the timeline, emphasizing that the wage revision began as soon as the President signed the bill into law.
This update is part of a broader effort by the government to address salary disparities across various sectors, as the revised wage frameworks will affect federal workers across different public service structures, including research institutions, universities, medical staff, and security agencies.
Peoplesmind