Federal government employees are set to begin receiving their new minimum wage payments starting on Thursday, September 26th, 2024.
Bawa Mokwa, Spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, confirmed this development to journalists, stating that employees under the federal payroll will begin receiving notifications regarding their updated salaries from that day. However, he did not confirm if the payments would include outstanding arrears.
“Federal Government civil servants will start getting the new minimum wage from today (Thursday), this September 2024.
What I can tell you is that the minimum wage salary payment is today; I am not sure of the arrears,” Mokwa told *Daily Post*.
This update follows the recent confirmation from Ekpo Nta, Chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission (NSIWC), who on Tuesday affirmed the government’s approval of an increase in the consolidated public service salary structure (CONPSS) under the Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act of 2024.
The new minimum wage of ₦70,000 was officially sanctioned by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on July 18, 2024, and the Senate subsequently passed the minimum wage bill into law. The NSIWC announced that the payment of the revised minimum wage would officially commence from July 2024.
During a press briefing on Tuesday in Abuja, Ekpo Nta explained that the July start date aligns with when President Tinubu signed the minimum wage bill into law, following its passage by the National Assembly.
This announcement contradicts an earlier claim made by Minister of State for Labour, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, who had indicated that the wage increase would take effect from May 1, 2024.
If the government proceeds with the disbursement by the end of October, only two months of arrears will be paid.
Additionally, the approval of the revised Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure and other frameworks for federal workers was confirmed.
Last week, the Committee on Consequential Adjustments in Salaries for civil servants convened to finalize the new minimum wage structure, agreeing to backdate the implementation to July 29, 2024.
The committee, chaired by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, also recommended that the previously discontinued wage award be paid up until July 28, 2024.
Despite these steps, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has expressed dissatisfaction with the decision to backdate the wage from July rather than May. NLC’s Head of Information, Benson Upah, described the decision as “unfair and unacceptable.
” Similarly, Timmy Etim, the National Vice President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), criticized the move, citing Onyejeocha’s previous May Day promise of a May start date for the wage increase.
At the press briefing, Ekpo Nta addressed these concerns, emphasizing that the minimum wage would take effect from July 29, 2024, the date on which President Tinubu formally approved the bill.