Civil servants under the employment of the Federal Government are facing gloomy Christmas celebration following the delay in payment of their December 2024 salaries.
Chronicle NG gathered that federal workers suffered delayed salaries in November 2024.
According to our sources, the majority of federal employees received their November 2024 salary in the second week of December.
Multiple public service sources informed Chronicle NG that the blame was with the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, while others said the delay was due to the migration to a new payment platform.
Speaking of delayed salaries, our correspondent, who visited the Federal Secretariat on Tuesday morning, met with a few federal servants who expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation.
Speaking on the delayed salaries, our correspondent, who visited the Federal Secretariat on Tuesday morning, met with a few civil servants who expressed their grievances over the matter.
A civil servant, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said, “To be very honest, I am not travelling for the holidays this year because I don’t have the money. Our November salaries came very late, and by the time we were paid, a lot of us were already in debt. We felt things would be different this December, but the reverse is the case.”
Another civil servant, who also spoke under the condition of anonymity, revealed that, “There is nothing shocking about this new development because our November salaries came late. Some of us prepared ahead, even though it is not enough.
“The cost of food items has gone up, clothes for my children, and all. Payment of the December salaries at the moment will really go a long way.”
However, the Federal Government has explained the reasons behind recent delays in salary payments to civil servants, attributing the issue to shortfalls in allocations to some ministries and agencies.
Speaking on Tuesday, the Director of Press and Public Relations at the Office of the Accountant-General, Mr. Bawa Mokwa, confirmed that payments commenced on Monday and that measures had been taken to address the discrepancies.
“They have started paying since yesterday,” Mokwa stated.
He further acknowledged the delays experienced last month, saying, “Last month, you will observe that some people didn’t get their salaries on time. Some ministries were having a shortfall. Yesterday, they paid all, and even the ones that had shortfalls, they ensured that they were augmented and paid. So, it now depends on the banks.”
Explaining the root of the problem, Mokwa noted that the implementation of the new minimum wage had affected the salary allocations for some ministries.
“When they started paying the new minimum wage, the money assigned for salaries to these ministries was affected by the minimum wage. So, that led to a shortfall for the ministries. That is what the government has addressed and augmented for all ministries to ensure that the salary was paid yesterday,” he explained.
Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, the Accountant-General of the Federation, confirmed that salaries had been paid.
However, the timing of funds reflecting in employees’ accounts would depend on individual banks.
“It varies from bank to bank on how it will drop, but they have been paid,” he said.
In July 2024, President Bola Tinubu approved an increase in the minimum wage for Nigerian workers from N30,000 to N70,000.
In January this year, the National Assembly reduced the allocation for the minimum wage.
President Bola Tinubu first requested a budget of N1 trillion for MDAS’s Public Service Wage Adjustment (which included arrears of promotion and salary increases, as well as payment of severance benefits and minimum wage adjustments).
However, the approved budget by the National Assembly and signed by the president was significantly reduced to N550 billion for the same fiscal item, representing an N450 billion fall from the original amount.
Following the passage of a new minimum wage, the Federal Government stated that the N3 trillion recurrent component of the N6.2 trillion supplementary budget presented to the National Assembly will be primarily utilised to fund the new national minimum wage.
