Barring any last-minute change of plans, the Federal Government will begin payment of the planned increase in civil servants’ pay by the end of this month (April).
The President, Major General Muhammadu
Buhari, retd, is expected to give his final assent for disbursement any moment
from now.
If the proposal sails through, it means the
increase will be coming about two months to the June date proposed for the
removal of petrol subsidy.
According to The PUNCH the fresh pay
increase tagged consequential allowance, would lead to a 40 per cent rise in
the current pay of government workers.
Director of Press and Public Relations,
Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olajide Oshundun, revealed that the Federal
Government might begin payment of the 40 per cent pay rise by the end of April
this year, adding that the three months arrears of January, February and March
would be paid at a later date.
Oshundun, however, said she could not confirm
if the proposal by the government committee saddled with the task had been
finally approved by the President.
He said, “Consequential allowance Salaries
will be increased by 40 per cent for civil servants from level 1 to level 17.
“What we receive now is called consolidated
public service salary structure, it is the combination of basic and all
allowances. So, the increase will be 40 per cent of what a public servant is
earning now.
“They will start paying from the end of this
month (April) and the arrears of January, February and March will be paid
later. The salary increase is effective from January 2023. That is the proposal
submitted by the committee set up to look into salary adjustment for civil
servants, but am not sure if the President has signed it yet.”
Last month, the Minister of Labour and
Employment, Chris Ngige disclosed that the Federal Government had approved a
pay raise for civil servants in the country.
He added that the pay rise had been included
in the 2023 budget, noting that it would take effect from January 1, 2023.
Ngige described the pay raise as a peculiar
allowance for civil servants in view of the current economic reality and it is
meant to help government workers to cushion the effects of rising inflation,
rising cost of living, hikes in transportation fare, housing and electricity
tariffs.
Nigeria’s headline inflation increased to
22.04 per cent year-on-year in March, the highest rate since September 2005.
According to the National Bureau of
Statistics data, the latest rise in inflation rate is the third consecutive
increase this year, increasing by 0.13 per cent points when compared to the
February 2023 headline inflation rate.
The NBS added that the cost of food and
beverages contributed significantly to overall inflation.
“The contributions of items on the divisional
level to the increase in the headline index are food and non-alcoholic
beverages (11.42 per cent); housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel
(3.69 per cent); clothing and footwear (1.69 per cent); transport (1.43 per
cent); furnishings, household equipment and maintenance (1.11 per cent); education
(0.87 per cent); health (0.66 per cent); miscellaneous goods and services (0.37
per cent); restaurant and hotels (0.27 per cent); alcoholic beverage, tobacco
and kola (0.24 per cent); recreation and culture (0.15 per cent) and
communication (0.15 per cent),” the NBS report added.
However, leaders of the organised labour on
Monday described the proposed pay rise as a meagre allowance that would not be
equivalent to a 40 per cent increase in workers’ salaries.
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