Nigerian govt begins payment of wage award for November

The Federal Government has begun payments of the November 2023 wage award.

This was confirmed by several federal civil servants on Tuesday.

The payment of wage awards was agreed between the organised labour and the Federal Government, as one of the ways to cushion the effect of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as petrol.

However, the government suspended the payment of the wage award at the time.

The development came amidst reports that the government had slashed the wage award allocation by N100bn in the 2023 supplementary budget.

The Nigeria Labour Congress had described the government’s action as dishonourable, while the Trade Union Congress also urged the government to pay civil servants the wage awards or risk industrial action.

A senior civil servant told Punch that some civil servants had started receiving the wage award for November 2023.

“Payment came in this morning, others have also confirmed receipt in my agency,” the source said.

Another senior civil servant in one of the Federal Government-owned schools outside Abuja also confirmed the development saying,” Yes, the November 2023 wage award has been paid.”

Following an ultimatum given by the organised labour, the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, noted that the government would again resume the payment of the wage awards.