FG begins payment of new minimum wage for civil servants today

Federal government employees will begin receiving the new minimum wage payments starting Thursday, September 26th.

Confirming the development, the Spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, told journalists that federal employees can expect to receive notifications regarding their updated salary payments starting today.

However, Mokwa did not clarify whether the payments would include any outstanding arrears.

“Federal government civil servants will start getting the new minimum wage from today, September 2024. What I can tell you is that the minimum wage salary payment begins today, but I am not sure about the arrears,” he told Daily Post.

This update follows confirmation from Ekpo Nta, Chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission, who announced on Tuesday that the government had approved an increase in the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS) in line with the Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act of 2024.

The development comes after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved a new minimum wage of N70,000 in July 2024. Following this, the Senate passed the new minimum wage bill into law.

Earlier, the Federal Government, through the National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission (NSIWC), had announced that payment of the revised minimum wage would officially begin in July 2024. NSIWC Chairman Ekpo Nta disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja, explaining that the start date aligns with the President’s signing of the minimum wage bill after its passage by the National Assembly.

This announcement contrasts with an earlier statement by the Minister of State for Labour, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, who claimed the wage would take effect from May 1, 2024.

The new decision indicates that only two months of arrears will be paid if disbursements begin by the end of October.

Additionally, the government has confirmed revisions to the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure and other frameworks for federal workers. Last week, the Committee on Consequential Adjustments in Salaries for civil servants recommended backdating the new minimum wage implementation to July 29, 2024, with the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, leading discussions.

The committee also recommended that the previously discontinued wage award should be paid up until July 28, 2024. However, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) rejected the July backdate decision, with the NLC’s Head of Information, Benson Upah, calling it “unfair and unacceptable.”

Similarly, the National Vice President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Timmy Etim, criticized the decision, citing the earlier promise made by Minister Onyejeocha that the wage would take effect in May.

At the press briefing, Nta addressed these concerns, clarifying that the minimum wage will take effect from July 29, 2024, as this was the date when the President officially approved the bill.