FG to begin payment of ‘suspended’ wage award to civil servants

The Federal Government’s Committee on Consequential Adjustments in Salaries for civil servants has recommended that the wage award which was discontinued by the government should also be paid up till July 28,2024.

This follows its decision which said that the payment of new minimum wage will take effect from July 29, 2024.

This is according to a Memorandum of Understanding issued at the end of the meeting in Abuja on Friday.

The Committee headed by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack noted that the government took note of the economic situation in the country before it took its decisions.

The MOU recommended that, “The NSIWC will generate the appropriate salary templates for other consolidated salary structures for implementation: that the effective date of the implementation should be 29th July 2024, that the payment of the wage award issued vide NS/WC Circular SWC.04/T/33 dated 19th October 2023 should continue to be paid until 28th July 2024.”

Recall that the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, had assured Nigerian workers that the N35,000 wage award approved for them by the Federal Government will continue until the new minimum wage is settled.

The Federal Government in October last year agreed to pay N35,000 to workers to cushion the hardship occasioned by the removal of petrol subsidy on the workers.

Recently, there has been uncertainty about whether the payment of the wage award will continue, with many saying that it was meant to run for only six months.