Federal government employees will start receiving the newly approved minimum wage of N70,000 today, September 26, 2024.
This announcement was confirmed by Bawa Mokwa, the Spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, who stated that notifications regarding the updated salary payments would be issued to employees on federal payroll.
However, Mokwa did not clarify whether these payments would include any outstanding arrears from previous months.
“Federal Government civil servants will start getting the new minimum wage from today. 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.
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The update follows an earlier confirmation by Ekpo Nta, Chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), regarding the government’s endorsement of an increase in the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS) in line with the Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act of 2024.
This significant wage adjustment comes after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sanctioned the new minimum wage on July 18, 2024, which was subsequently enacted by the Senate. While the NSIWC announced that the revised minimum wage would officially take effect from July, this contradicted previous statements from Minister of State for Labour, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, who indicated that the new wage would begin on May 1, 2024.
As a result, if the government begins disbursement by the end of October, only two months of arrears will be compensated.
The recent decision also confirms the revision of various salary frameworks for federal workers. A Committee on Consequential Adjustments had previously met to discuss the minimum wage structure, recommending a backdating of its implementation to July 29, 2024.
The decision to backdate the implementation of the wage has faced criticism from labor unions. The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has publicly rejected the July backdate, with NLC Head of Information, Benson Upah, calling it “unfair and unacceptable.”
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Similarly, Timmy Etim, National Vice President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), criticized the government’s decision, reminding stakeholders of Onyejeocha’s earlier commitment regarding the wage’s effective date.
In addressing these concerns, Nta reiterated that the minimum wage would officially take effect from July 29, 2024, the date when the President formally approved the bill.
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