Civil servants under the federal government employ will start receiving the new minimum wage payment from Thursday, 26 September.
The Spokesperson of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa stated this in an exclusive interview with DAILY POST on Thursday.
This is as the Committee on Consequential Adjustments in Salaries for civil servants has agreed that the new minimum wage will be implemented from 29 July, 2024.
Also read
- Public servants to enjoy New Minimum Wage, Governor Eno assures
- Current price of petrol erodes N70,000 new minimum wage- NLC Bewails
- New Minimum Wage: Akwa Ibom yet to set up committee for it- says HOS
Mokwa assured that workers will begin to get alert of their new minimum wage salary payment starting from Thursday.
However, he did not state if the minimum wage would be paid alongside its arrears.
“Federal Government civil servants will start getting the new minimum wage from today(Thursday) this September 2024. What I can tell you is that the minimum wage salary payment is today I am not sure of the arrears”, he said.
Mokwa’s comment comes after the Chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, Ekpo Nta, on Tuesday confirmed that the government has approved the upward review of consolidated public service salary structure, CONPSS in line with the minimum wage(Amendment) Act, 2024.
This followed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval of N70,000 new Minimum wage on July 18, 2024.
Thereafter, the Senate passed the new minimum wage bill into law.
Committee fixes date to begin payment
Meanwhile, the Committee on Consequential Adjustments in Salaries also recommended that the wage award, which was discontinued by the Federal Government, should be paid until 28 July 2024.
This was stated in a Memorandum of Understanding issued at the end of the committee’s meeting, which was seen by our correspondent in Abuja on Friday.
The committee, headed by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, noted that the government considered the economic situation in the country before making its decisions.
The MoU read, “The committee held four meetings and considered all presentations from the Federal Government and Trade Union sides. It also took into account the economic situation and the ability of the Federal Government to pay and sustain any consequential adjustment in salaries arising from the implementation of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2024, as well as the effects on other employers.”
The MoU further recommended that “the NSIWC will generate the appropriate salary templates for other consolidated salary structures for implementation; that the effective date of the implementation should be 29 July 2024; that the payment of the wage award issued via NS/WC Circular SWC.04/T/33 dated 19 October 2023 should continue to be paid until 27 July 2024;
“that the Federal Government should take appropriate measures to alleviate the plight of Federal workers as a result of the recent increase in PMS, including consideration of tax waivers and other incentives; and
“that the NSIWC, in collaboration with other stakeholders, should commence monitoring of the implementation in line with the provisions of the Act.”
The committee was established to implement the provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act 2024, which raised the national minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000.
The committee consists of 16 members.
Its terms of reference include negotiating and agreeing on consequential adjustments in salaries and developing a template for the implementation of the approved minimum wage.
