Subsidy removal: Tinubu approves N35,000 wage award for civil servants

President Bola Tinubu has approved the N35,000 wage award for civil servants to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.

This was disclosed in a memo issued by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, Ekpo U. O. Nta.

The memo said all Federal Civil Servants are beneficiaries of the wage award, which is to take effect from September 1, 2023.

The memo dated 19 October 2023, was addressed to the Chief of Staff to the President, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Ministers and Ministers of State, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Chairmen, Federal Commissions, Federal Permanent Secretaries, Clerk of the National Assembly, Secretary, National Judicial Council, and Secretary, Federal Judicial Service Commission.

Others copied in the memo are Directors-General and Chief Executives of Parastatals, Agencies and Government-Owned Companies, Auditor-General of the Federation, Accountant-General of the Federation and the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation.

The memo reads; “I refer to the Memorandum of Understanding reached between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) on Monday, 2 October 2023 as a result of the dispute arising from withdrawal of subsidy on the price of premium motor spirit (PMS) and hereby convey the approval of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the grant of a wage award of N35,000:00 (thirty-five thousand Naira) only per month to all Federal Government workers with effect from 1 September 2023 pending when a new national minimum wage is expected to have been signed into law.”

It can be recalled that the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, the Trade Union Congress, TUC, and other organized labour unions embarked on an industrial action over hardship occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy.

The strike was later suspended for one month after the Tinubu-led administration offered the sum of N5 billion for the provision of palliatives to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.