The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) had maintained that the Federal Government was meeting its obligation on the N35,000 wage award and would clear outstanding arrears in phases, even as civil servants later expressed frustration over delays in payment.
The OAGF, through its Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Bawa Mokwa, said the Federal Government had already paid five months of the wage award in instalments and remained committed to settling the balance of the arrears.
According to Mokwa, the outstanding arrears would be paid in monthly tranches of N35,000, subject to the availability of funds, until fully exhausted.
“Contrary to insinuations in some quarters, the Federal Government has not reneged on the payment of the wage award arrears. Payments are being made in instalments of N35,000 per month until the arrears are cleared,” he said.
He added that the government was determined to fully implement all policies and agreements relating to workers’ remuneration and welfare in order to boost productivity and efficiency in the public service.
However, many federal civil servants have since criticised the pace of payment, describing the delay in clearing the remaining three months’ arrears as unacceptable.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja, some workers said the prolonged delay had worsened the economic hardship faced by government employees.
One of them, Mr Ibrahim Abbas, said there was no justification for failing to clear the three months’ arrears, amounting to N105,000.
“The condition of government workers has never been this bad. The Federal Government needs to take all necessary steps to clear the outstanding arrears,” he said.
Another civil servant, Mr Patrick Ugo, urged the Federal Government, through the OAGF, to pay the balance alongside workers’ January salaries, noting that the wage award remained a critical relief measure.
Mr Sule Aliu also called on the government to consider making the N35,000 wage award a permanent addition to workers’ monthly salaries to ease financial pressure.
NAN reports that the wage award was introduced in 2023 as a temporary cost-of-living adjustment to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal, pending the conclusion of negotiations on a new national minimum wage.
While the Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to clearing the remaining three months’ arrears, workers insist that further delays are no longer tolerable.
