The Federal Government yesterday said it would increase salaries of civil and public workers soon to mitigate the impact of high inflation rate in Nigeria.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, disclosed this when he spoke with State House Correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the Presidential Committee on Salaries is already doing a review and is expected to come up with salary adjustment in the New Year.
He described 2022 as a year of industrial dispute, saying he was at the Villa to discuss issues concerning his Ministry, including employment and productivity.
The Minister recently suggested that the government would raise worker salaries to reflect the country’s new economic realities, occasioned by inflation.
…the Presidential Committee on Salaries is working hand-in-hand with the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission. The Commission is mandated by the Act establishing it to fix salaries, wages, and emoluments.
Asked if the issue of salary increase came up during discussions with the President in view of the rising inflation, Ngige said: “Yes, that’s what I am saying that the Presidential Committee on Salaries is working hand-in-hand with the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.
“The Commission is mandated by the Act establishing it to fix salaries, wages, and emoluments. If you want their assistance and you are in the private sector, they will also assist you. They have what is called the template for remuneration, for compensation. So, if you work, you get compensated, if you don’t work, you will not be compensated.
“They have the matrix to do the evaluation, so they are working with the Presidential Committee on Salaries chaired by the Finance Minister, and I’m the co-chair, to look at the demands of the workers. Outside this, I said discussions on that evaluation are ongoing.”
On whether a time line has been fixed for the implementation of new salary increase, Ngige said: “As we enter the New Year, the government will make some pronouncements in that direction.”
Ngige also described 2022 as a year fraught with industrial disputes, starting from February when the Academic Staff Union of the Universities (ASUU) strike begun, joined by other sister unions in the university system, workers in research institutes, threats from various unions, the National Association of Resident Doctors and the Joint Health Sector Union all asking for wage increases.
