By KADIRI ABDULRAHMAN

Some civil servants have urged the Federal Government to sustain the payment of the monthly N35,000 wage award until a new minimum wage comes into effect.

They made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.

NAN reports that the Federal Government had announced an additional N35, 000 wage award for six months, beginning from September 2023.

This was aimed to cushion the effect of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol.

The subsisting minimum wage of N30,000 per month has been in effect since 2019.

The payment of wage award to workers was an agreement by the organised labour, and the Federal Government as one of the ways to mitigate the effect of the removal of subsidy on petrol.

President Bola Tinubu, shortly after the announcement in May 2023, promised to give workers a “living wage” that would be in tune with economic realities.

However, the belief among civil servants was that by March when the wage award would have lapsed, the new living wage, as promised by Tinubu, would be in effect.

According to Ibrahim Abbas, a civil servant, the new minimum wage is not feasible immediately, and the government will have to sustain the wage award indefinitely.

“That N35, 000, though small, has been helping to augment our meagre salaries in this austere time.

“I will advise the government to sustain its payment until we arrive at a new minimum wage,” he said.

Mrs Margaret Bala, a civil servant, urged the Federal Government not to stop payment of the monthly wage award until a realistic minimum wage takes effect.

“The way things are now, no government worker can survive with the old salary. Since the removal of subsidy on petrol, prices of commodities increase on a daily basis.

“The government should not consider stopping the payment of the wage award until a realistic minimum wage is in place,” she said.

Salaudeen Jimoh, a public servant, said that the Federal Government should not stop payment of the wage award without agreeing on a new minimum wage.

“I do not think that there is any reason to be worried. The government is aware of the hardship some of its economic policies have subjected civil servants and Nigerians to.

“If the timeline for the wage award expires and the new minimum wage is not yet ready, it is advisable that the government extends its timeline,” he said.

Simon Idoko, a senior public servant, said that the wage award was scheduled to end in March, while a new minimum wage would take effect from April.

According to him, there is no need to continue paying the N35,000 wage award beyond March since the new minimum wage will take effect from April.

He suggested N60,000 as the new minimum wage and 100 per cent salary increase across board.

“The N35,000 was meant to assuage economic hardship caused by the removal of petrol subsidy and is meant to end in March while the new minimum wage will take effect from April.

Mr Aliu Sule, a retired civil servant, urged the Federal Government to also consider the plight of retirees in its plans to ameliorate the economic hardship.

“What is the hope of retirees in all these plans by the Federal Government? Are we no longer Nigerians?

“We are also subjected to all the economic hardship, and it is only fair that we are also considered in the plans to ameliorate the economic hardship on Nigerians,” he said.

However, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Joe Ajaero, said that the wage award agreement with the Federal Government would continue until a new minimum wage was determined.

According to Ajaero, labour did not sign a six-month wage agreement with the Federal Government.

“We signed a wage agreement that will be in existence until the new minimum wage is determined,” he said. (NAN)

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