Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has increased the initially proposed monthly allowance for federal civil servants from N25,000 to N35,000.
The money is still to be paid monthly for six months.
The increment was announced in a statement by the Minister of Information, Mr Mohammed Idris.
This development came less than 24 hours after Mr Tinubu on his first Independence Day broadcast on Sunday morning announced the monthly payment of N25,000 allowance to junior civil servants to cushion the effect of the impact of petrol subsidy removal.
He said the allowance would be paid for six months.
However, after the announcement, a government delegation met with leaders of labour unions where it was agreed that all civil servants should benefit from the allowance.
The meeting was to convince the labour unions, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Unions Congress (TUC), to shelve their planned nationwide strike scheduled to commence Tuesday.
Mr Idris’s late Sunday night statement, however, shows the monthly allowance has now been increased to N35,000.
The increment was “following further consultations with the Federal Government delegation that met with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) earlier on Sunday.”
The labour unions are expected to announce today whether they will proceed with the strike or suspend it
Furthermore, the federal government announced that it will commence payment of N75,000 to 15 million households at N25,000 per month, for a three-month period from October-December 2023.
Governor Abdulrazak Abdulrahman of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), and Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, participated virtually in the meeting chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila.
Also in attendance were the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Simon Lalong, the Minister of State, Labour, Mrs Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Abubakar Bagudu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs Betta Edu, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs Doris Uzoka-Anite, the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs Folasade Yemi-Esan and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr Nuhu Ribadu.
The labour delegation was led by NLC President, Mr Joe Ajaero, Mr Tommy Etim Okon, Deputy President, TUC, NLC General Secretary, Mr Emma Ugboaja, TUC General Secretary, Mr Nuhu Toro, among others.
