Federal government employees will begin receiving the new minimum wage payment starting Thursday, September 26th.
Confirming the development, the Spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, told journalists on Thursday that employees under the federal government payroll can expect to receive notifications regarding their updated minimum wage salary payments from today.
However, Mokwa did not clarify whether the minimum wage would be disbursed along with any outstanding 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 told Daily Post.
The update comes shortly after the confirmation by Ekpo Nta, the Chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, on Tuesday regarding the government’s endorsement of an increase in the consolidated public service salary structure, known as CONPSS, in accordance with the Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act of 2024.
This development came after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sanctioned a new minimum wage of N70,000 on July 18, 2024.
Following this, the Senate enacted the new minimum wage bill into law.
Ealier, the Federal Government, through the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), announced that the payment of the revised minimum wage officially begin from July 2024.
This was disclosed by the NSIWC Chairman, Ekpo Nta, during a press briefing held on Tuesday in Abuja.
Nta explained that the July start date aligns with when President Bola Tinubu signed the minimum wage bill into law after its passage by the National Assembly.
This announcement contradicts an earlier statement made by the Minister of State for Labour, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, who had claimed that the new wage would take effect from May 1, 2024.
The new decision means that only two months of arrears will be paid if the government begins disbursement by the end of October.
The announcement also confirmed the approval of the revision of the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure along with other salary frameworks for federal workers.
Last week, the Committee on Consequential Adjustments in Salaries for civil servants met to discuss the new minimum wage structure and agreed to backdate the implementation to July 29, 2024.
Additionally, the committee, led by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, recommended that the previously discontinued wage award should be paid up until July 28, 2024.
The government reportedly considered the current economic situation in the country before reaching its conclusions.
However, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected the July backdate decision, with NLC’s Head of Information, Benson Upah, expressing discontent, calling it “unfair and unacceptable.”
Similarly, the National Vice President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Timmy Etim, criticized the move, referencing Onyejeocha’s previous promise on May Day 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.