Civil servants in Abuja have called on the Federal Government to pay the outstanding four months arrears of the ₦35,000 wage award promised to them.
The workers expressed concern over the delay during separate interviews with StarReporters on Monday, describing the situation as worrisome and disappointing.
On April 28, the Federal Government announced its plan to settle five months’ worth of ₦35,000 wage award arrears to civil servants. The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) made this known in a statement by its Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Bawa Mokwa.
Mokwa explained that the government had previously paid five months of the award in instalments and would pay the remaining arrears in five additional monthly tranches.
“The wage award arrears will not be paid with the April 2025 salary; it will come immediately after the salary is paid, and it will be paid for the next five months,” he stated.
He assured workers that the government remained committed to implementing all agreements relating to staff welfare and remuneration to improve productivity and efficiency.
Despite paying one instalment in May, StarReporters gathered that no further disbursements have been made since then.
Dr Uche Anune, a civil servant, urged the government not to wait for agitation before fulfilling its promises.
“I am seeing a pattern that whenever there is anything at stake, the government tends to be relaxed about it until some people start agitating or engaging in some form of protest before they act. That should not be the case,” he said.
Anune added that the Federal Government was under no pressure when it made the pledge and should honour it accordingly.
“The honourable thing is to respect that promise and just do what is right,” he added.
Mr Joseph Edeh criticised the government’s piecemeal approach and called for a full settlement of the arrears.
“They told us that we had an outstanding of five months. After paying one month, they stopped. Why are they treating us like this? Nobody is happy about this,” he said.
“What they should do is to clear the arrears—pay the remaining four months at once and forget about it.”
Miss Franca Ofili also urged the government to ease civil servants’ financial burden by fulfilling its commitment.
“That ₦35,000 can go a long way to solve a lot of financial problems. We need the money—they should clear the outstanding four months arrears at once,” she said.
(NAN)