FG assures workers of wage award payments before mid-August

The Federal Government has told public workers that they will get their outstanding wage awards before mid-August.

Efe Ovuakporie, who heads information and public relations at the Federal Ministry of Finance, shared this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

Taiwo Oyedele, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, made this promise during a meeting with labour leaders. The meeting was led by Kabiru Minjibir, the National President of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC).

Mr Oyedele said the government has started to address many labour issues before getting a formal communication from the council. He emphasized the Tinubu administration's promise to keep its word with Nigerian workers through good talks and engagement.

"The goal is to build trust by ensuring the government keeps every promise made," he said.

The minister mentioned that the payment for the outstanding wage award is almost ready. He is confident that eligible workers will start receiving their payments before mid-August.

He instructed the relevant officials to look at the council's requests and speed up action on all outstanding matters. He also recognized the worries over delays in payments and promised better transparency, consultation, and quick action.

The government assured workers that promotion arrears are being processed according to the right procedures. Raymond Omachi, the Permanent Secretary of Finance, promised to work closely with organized labour. He said that approved entitlements would be processed without unnecessary delays.

Mohammed Danjuma, the Permanent Secretary for Special Duties, also spoke on the progress made regarding workers' entitlements. He noted that batch seven promotion arrears, which were missed earlier, are now being processed with batch nine.

Mr Danjuma added that the government is collaborating with relevant agencies to resolve special allowances and other labour issues.

Christiana Osho, the Director of Cash Management, stated that the reconciliation of the outstanding wage award has been finished. She said that the payment release is now in its final stage.

Earlier, Mr Minjibir had urged the government to settle pending labour issues quickly. He pointed out issues like outstanding wage awards, promotion arrears, salary relativity for health workers, and peculiar allowances that remain unresolved.

He stated that timely action would help improve industrial peace and increase workers' trust in the government.