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Tag: wage award

  • FG pays second tranche of N35,000 wage award arrears to workers

    FG pays second tranche of N35,000 wage award arrears to workers

    The Federal Government has commenced payment of the second tranche of the N35,000 wage award arrears to civil servants, signalling continued efforts to fulfil its commitments to federal workers.

    In a statement on Friday in Abuja, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) confirmed the disbursement, stating that the payment was part of the outstanding wage award introduced to cushion the impact of economic reforms on public sector employees.

    Mr. Bawa Mokwa, Director of Press and Public Relations at the OAGF, said the government had earlier settled one month’s arrears out of the total five months owed to federal workers under the wage award arrangement. The payment of the second tranche reduces the outstanding balance to three months.

    The N35,000 monthly wage award was introduced as a temporary palliative measure following the removal of fuel subsidies and other reforms that significantly affected the cost of living. It was agreed upon during negotiations between the Federal Government and organised labour to ease the financial burden on workers pending a new minimum wage structure.

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    Responding to speculation that the Federal Government had abandoned the wage award, the Accountant General’s office dismissed such claims, maintaining that the administration has not defaulted on its promise. The office clarified that payments are being made in phases and will continue until the full arrears are cleared.

    “The Federal Government has not reneged on its obligation. The wage award arrears will continue to be paid in instalments of N35,000 per month until the outstanding balance is completely settled,” the statement said.

    The assurance comes at a time when labour unions and public sector workers have been mounting pressure on the government for improved wage conditions amid rising inflation and economic challenges. 

    The gradual settlement of the wage award arrears may help ease tensions between labour and government, although broader discussions on salary adjustments and public sector welfare are still ongoing.

  • FG begins payment of N35,000 wage award arrears to federal workers

    FG begins payment of N35,000 wage award arrears to federal workers

    The federal government has commenced the payment of the long-awaited N35,000 wage award arrears to its employees, fulfilling a key part of its commitment to support workers amid prevailing economic challenges.

    This was disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) and signed by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr. Bawa Mokwa.

    According to the statement, many federal government employees have already received the first tranche of the payment, while others who are yet to be credited will receive theirs shortly. 

    The arrears are being paid in five instalments of N35,000 each, amounting to a total of N175,000 per beneficiary.

    The OAGF also addressed reports circulating in some sections of the media suggesting that the N35,000 wage award had been excluded from the 2025 Budget. The Office clarified that at no point did the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Babatunde Ogunjimi, make such a claim.

    “There was no press briefing by the Accountant General on the matter of wage award,” the statement read. “Any report quoting him as excluding the N35,000 from the 2025 budget is entirely false.”

    The Office further stated that all outstanding arrears of the wage award would be settled in line with the government’s assurance to organised labour and public service employees.

    Read Also: Reps to investigate non-payment of presidential wage award to Nigerian pensioners

    The wage award was introduced by the Federal Government as part of palliative measures to cushion the impact of recent subsidy removal and associated economic reforms. It is intended to bridge the gap pending the conclusion of negotiations on a new minimum wage.

    The commencement of payment comes after months of anticipation and advocacy from labour unions, who had pressed for the full implementation of the government’s promise.

    The payment is expected to provide some relief to federal workers, many of whom have been grappling with inflationary pressures and rising cost of living.

    The OAGF urged patience from workers who have not yet received their arrears, assuring that the payroll system is actively processing all outstanding entitlements.

  • Workers’ pending five months Wage Award for payment

    Workers’ pending five months Wage Award for payment

    Civil servants on federal payroll are to get five months arrears of the N35, 000 Wage Award, the government announced yesterday.

    The Federal Government and organized Labour agreed to the Wage Award for the period negotiations on the New Minimum Wage were ongoing.

    It was part of the palliative measures introduced by the government to cushion the effects of economic reforms, particularly following the removal of fuel subsidies and other fiscal adjustments

    The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) which dropped the hint in a statement in Abuja, said that arrangements have been concluded to settle the outstanding payments.

    OAGF Director of Press and Public Relations Bawa Mokwa, who signed the statement, said the Federal Government had previously paid five months of the wage award to eligible workers in installments.

    It noted, however, that arrears for an additional five months remain outstanding and that these will now be paid in installments of N35, 000 per month over a period of five months.

    The statement clarified that the first installment of the outstanding stop-gap cash would be disbursed immediately after the payment of April 2025 salaries.

    It explained that while workers would receive their normal salaries for April as scheduled, the separate payment for the wage award arrears would follow promptly.

    “The wage award arrears would not be paid with the April 2025 salary; it will come immediately after the salary is paid,” the statement read.

    The OAGF also restated the government’s commitment to the implementation of all policies and agreements relating to staff remuneration and welfare.

    It indicated that measures were being put in place to ensure that the welfare of workers is adequately addressed, recognising its critical role in promoting increased productivity and operational efficiency across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

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    Workers had previously received part of the wage award in response to negotiations between the government and Labour unions, which sought to mitigate the rising cost of living.

    With this latest development, federal employees who had been awaiting the settlement of the remaining arrears can now expect phased payments starting from the end of this month.

    The OAGF assured workers that it would work closely with all relevant stakeholders to ensure seamless disbursements and that no eligible employee would be left out of the process.

  • Labour plans showdown with states not paying wage award

    Labour plans showdown with states not paying wage award

    • Only 14 states complying
    • Rivers paying N30,000, Kwara, Gombe N10,000

    States yet to commence payment of wage award to cushion the effect of subsidy pain may be in for a raw deal.

    Labour centre – Trade Union Congress (TUC) – has expressed its intention to take on such states.

    As part of measures to mitigate the effect of petrol subsidy withdrawal, the Federal Government and states have introduced many measures, one of which is the wage award.

    The Federal Government has been paying its workers N35,000 monthly for five months.

    Not less than 14 states have been paying amounts ranging from N10,000 to N35,000 for worker. 

    On Monday in Minna, Niger State, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appealed to the states that have yet to pay to emulate the Federal Government to key in, pending the conclusion of work by the Tripartite Committee on New Minimum Wage.

    A day after the President’s appeal, Governor Umaru Bago announced that Niger State workers would from this month begin to earn N20,000 wage award.

    Kwara, Gombe and Rivers states are on the list of states paying the wage award.

    While Rivers is paying N30,000, Kwara and Gombe are paying N10,000 each.

    The addition of the three states and Niger, takes the list of the states paying the wage award to 14.

    The Nation on Wednesday reported 10 states as paying. These are: Lagos (N35,000), Ekiti (15,000), Oyo (N25,000), Osun (15,000), Ogun (10,000), Ondo (35,000), Enugu (25,000), Ebonyi (10,000), Adamawa (10,000) and Jigawa (10,000).

    TUC President Festus Osifo, who commended the 14 states, said it was worrisome that others had not followed suit.

    He wondered why the governors of such states were not paying the largesse, despite increased revenue allocation to them.

     Last month, the three tiers of government (federal, states and councils) shared over N1 trillion from the Federation Account.  

     Osifo, who spoke exclusively with The Nation in Abuja, said: “We are meeting soon to deliberate on that.

     “We have noted that few states like Rivers are paying   N30,000 and above.  Most other states negotiated with the respective state councils and paid between N15,000 to N25,000 while  many others are not paying.

    Gombe:

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    The Director-General (Press Affairs) of the Gombe State Government, Ismaila Uba Misilli, said yesterday that the state is paying the wage award.

    In a statement, he said: “We wish to state categorically that Gombe State is in  the forefront of addressing the challenges faced by civil servants in the aftermath of the fuel subsidy removal.

    “Gombe State was one of the first states in Nigeria to implement a wage award for civil servants in response to the economic hardships experienced.”

    Rivers

    Rivers State Government has implemented the wage award.

    Governor Siminialayi Fubara began to pay worker employed by the state government N30, 000 shortly after he assumed office  last year.

     However,  workers under the Local Government hire were not immediately included in the arrangement, but he has issued a new directive to council chairmen to also implement it same in their various councils.

    Kwara:

    Kwara state Governor Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq is currently paying N10,000 to its workers.

    The government is also paying N10,000 each to students of Kwara state indigenes.

    The governor began payment of the wage award to workers in August last year. He commenced that of the students in September.

  • BREAKING: Niger Gov approves N20,000 wage award for workers

    BREAKING: Niger Gov approves N20,000 wage award for workers

    Niger state governor, Mohammed Umar Bago has approved the payment of wage award of N20,000 for every civil servants in the state.

    This followed the appeal made by President Bola Tinubu to state governments to implement the payment of the wage award to help cushion the economic challenges faced by the people.

    President Tinubu had appealed to state governors to start paying the wage award pending the determination of the new minimum wage in order to reduce the hardship of the economy on the people.

    Tinubu, who was in Minna on Monday, March 11, to commission the newly commissioned domestic terminal of the renamed Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Airport Minna and the massive agriculture mechanization project of Governor Mohammed Umar Bago, said that if the states had implemented the wage awards, it would provide much-needed relief without causing inflationary pressures.

    The president harped on the need for all states to adopt the wage award saying that the National Executive Council would also adopt it.

    “If all of you, the sub-nationals have been paying the wages award, pending the determination of the new salary wage. Let all the state start paying the wages award. Whatever they are taking now plus the wage award would relieve the public.

    Read Also: Tinubu to governors: pay wage award to your workers

    “Please, I am not giving an order, I am appealing to you states, start paying the wages awards, let everyone start paying it. It is a relief to the people. The mechanism is the fact that that it won’t be inflationary if we announce the new salary wage in a few weeks or months, they would have gotten use to the basic wages of N30,000 plus the wages award, it will have dampening effect on the market. Please get sub-nationals together and NEC should adopt this.”

    The decision of the Niger state governor to pay the N20,000 wage award was made during the state Executive Council meeting held in Minna on Wednesday.

    The governor assured that the payment would be made unfailing on Wednesday and workers would begin to receive alerts to this effect.

    Bago also said that there will be feeding of people in various points of the wards during the Ramadan while the state government would commence the distribution of palliatives of 120 trucks of grains to assuage the plight of the people.

  • Varsity workers disrupt convocation, demand N35,000 wage award

    Varsity workers disrupt convocation, demand N35,000 wage award

    Workers of Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, Ondo State, yesterday disrupted convocation with a protest demanding payment of N35,000 wage award being paid to civil servants since last November.

    The protesters under the auspices of Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Tertiary Institutions had been on an indefinite strike since last week over the issue.

    They carried placards with inscriptions such as: ‘All we are saying, pay us wage award’, We deserve N35,000 wage award, pay us’, ‘ Wage award is our right don’t deny us’, ‘ We patronise the same market, pay us N35,000 wage award’, among others.

    Chairman of JAC, Dayo Temola, said the state government ignored their demand for the payment of the wage award and some other allowances.

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    He said: “Our joint demand is that they should pay us our N35, 000 wage award that had been paid to all categories of workers in the state. We are also demanding implementation of 2019 minimum wage. We are in 2024, yet we have not received 2019 minimum wage. It is shameful, we patronise the same market with other workers who have been receiving the minimum wage. Everybody knows what is currently going on in the country, even our current salaries can’t take us to the office again for a month.

    “We also demand that the monthly subvention of the school be increased by 100 per cent. The government promised us N91million on paper and has been giving us N63milliion. It is far low to the wage bills of the university. As we speak, the university owes billions of naira from cooperatives and some other allowances. This is our agitation.”

    Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who was at the institution for the convocation, appealed to the workers and scheduled a meeting with the union leaders for today.