The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has condemned the Federal Government for the delay in the payment of the minimum wage for select workers in the federal civil service.
The federal government had originally blamed the delay in payment on the lengthy passage of the 2025 budget.
Civil servants who contacted our correspondent in Abuja voiced anger with the delay and urged the government to take urgent action. Some civil servants reported that they had been compelled to take out loans as a result of not receiving their minimum wage.
A worker at the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, who talked to Sunday PUNCH on the condition of anonymity due to public service rules that ban federal servants from communicating with the press, said, “Initially, a flat rate of N40,000 was added to our salaries.
It was suspended in February, and we are still waiting for the new pay to be paid. This is unfair. The expense of transport is increasing, with no hope for workers. “We need the NLC and TUC to fight for us.”
Another civil servant at the Ministry of Defence said, “I owe loan apps. We look forward to the so-called arrears and minimum wage payments every day. Everywhere is silence; no one is saying anything.”
However, the NLC’s spokesperson, Benson Upah, told Sunday PUNCH that the union would respond in due course.
“It is totally unacceptable, and no explanation is sufficient for this callous indifference. I assure you that there will be an appropriate response,” he said.
President Bola Tinubu signed the ₦70,000 minimum wage into law on July 18, 2024, after about two months of negotiations among the tripartite committee members.
