Federal employees under the umbrella of the Federal Workers Forum have called on the federal government, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to settle their outstanding three-month wage award.
The appeal was made in a statement issued by the group’s National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.
The statement, released to the media on Wednesday, expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of workers’ welfare.
According to Emelize, the federal government’s refusal to pay the remaining balance of the outstanding three-month wage award, which the Accountant General of the Federation had promised, clearly reflects how the government has been treating its workers.
He explained that the ₦35,000 wage award was introduced only after persistent pressure from workers.
However, Emelieze lamented that since its introduction, the payment had been irregular and inconsistent.
He urged the government to immediately pay the remaining balance of the wage award and clear the backlog of promotion arrears owed to federal workers.
He also advised the government to introduce a cost-of-living allowance for employees, suggesting that 30% of workers’ salaries should be paid as such an allowance.
He stated, “The refusal of the federal government to pay up the balance of the outstanding three months’ wage award as promised by the Accountant General of the Federation has shown clearly how our government has been treating its workers.
“Same also has been the case for so many backlogs of arrears owed to the federal workers, especially promotion arrears, in some cases, over a ten-year backlog owed to the federal workers in Nigeria.
“The payment of the ₦35,000 wage award was put in place after a series of pressure by workers for the government to pay a cost-of-living allowance after the removal of fuel subsidy and the deliberate, forceful devaluation of our national currency by the federal government.
This current ₦70,000 minimum wage is a slave wage; we call for its immediate abolition. We urge the government to pay up the balance of the outstanding three-month wage award. We are calling on the federal government to clear the backlog of promotion arrears owed to the federal workers. We call on the government to work out a cost-of-living allowance for the workers, preferably to pay 30% of our salaries as a cost-of-living allowance.”
