FG begins payment of 40% salary rise arrears to civil servants
Story from Haruna YUSUF
The Federal Government (FG) has commenced the payment of the 40 per cent pay rise arrears for civil servants.
According to NewsPoint, some federal civil servants learnt that workers have started receiving bank alerts of the arrears on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
A high-ranking civil servant who spoke to the newspaper anonymously in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, noted that the arrears came in alongside the April 2023 salary.
“I received my own arrears today. Some of our colleagues have also confirmed receipt of their arrears. It came in alongside our April salary.”
Another civil servant who confirmed the development via a chat with the media platform in Ibadan said, “Yes, it is true. Though I am a teacher with a Federal Government school, I can confirm to you that I received my April 2023 salary alongside my arrears.”
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari proposed a 40 per cent pay rise for workers to cushion the effects of the planned removal of fuel subsidy.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Olajide Oshundun, confirmed the payment and noted that the rise is applicable to all workers from level 1 to 17.
Earlier in March, 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.
“It is meant to help government workers cushion the effects of rising inflation, the rising cost of living, and hikes in transportation fare, housing and electricity tariffs.
However, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), once release a report on Nigeria’s headline inflation increased to 22.04 per cent year-on-year in March, the highest rate since September 2005.
According to the NBS data, the latest rise in the 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).
Others are 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 disclosed.
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