Many federal civil servants have urged the Federal Government to pay the outstanding arrears of wage award as a matter of necessity.
The civil servants, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja, urged the government to consider the harsh economic condition in the country and offset the arrears. Ibrahim Abbas, a federal health worker, said long delay in clearing the arrears of the wage award was no longer acceptable.
According to him, the money is needed now to cushion the effect of economic hardship. He said; “The condition of government workers has never been this bad. The Federal Government needs to take all necessary steps to clear the outstanding two months arrears of the wage award.”
Another civil servant, Mr Patrick Ugo, urged the Federal Government to pay up the arrears without further delay. “The government should realise that the present minimum wage of N70 ,000 is unrealistic. The wage award will give the workers some relief.
“I will urge the Federal Government, through the Accountant-General of the Federation, to pay the outstanding two months, totaling N70,000 before April salaries.” Mr Sule Aliu urged the Federal Government to review the minimum wage and also make the N35,000 wage award a permanent addition to the monthly salaries of civil servants.
According to Aliu, this will go a long way to alleviate the financial pressure of the workers. Sani Garba urged the Federal Government to always fulfill its obligations to civil servants without delay to prevent labour agitation.
According to Garba, the government should consider the present economic realities and make the wage award a permanent addition to the present salary. Aliyu Sani said workers were going through hardship on a daily basis and stressed the need for the Federal Government to pay the arrears of the wage award.
NAN reports that the wage award was a temporary payment to workers, approved in 2023 to ease the burden of fuel subsidy removal, supplementing salaries while a new national minimum wage was being negotiated.
It was to act as a cost-ofliving adjustment, but payments faced delays, causing frustration and leading to ongoing demands from labour unions for full implementation and clearance of arrears.
