Many civil servants in Abuja have urged the federal government to clear the outstanding four months arrears of N35,000 wage award owed to them.

The civil servants spoke on Monday in Abuja against the backdrop of the unexplained delay in the payment of the wage award.

On April 28, the federal government announced that it would pay the outstanding five months N35,000 wage award arrears to workers.

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) made the announcement in a statement by its Director of Press and Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa.

Mr Mokwa said that the federal government earlier paid five months wage awards in instalments.

He said that the outstanding arrears would be paid in instalments of N35,000 per month for five months.

According to him, the first instalment of the outstanding wage award arrears will be paid after the April 2025 salary.

He said “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 that the federal government was determined to fully implement policies and agreements regarding staff remuneration and welfare to enhance productivity and efficiency.

After paying the ₦35,000 in May, the OAGF has not made any other wage award payment to civil servants.

A civil servant, Uche Anune, said that the government should not wait until workers feel agitated or start complaining before addressing the issue.

He added, “I see 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.” 

According to Mr Anune, the federal government was not under duress when it made that pledge to clear the arrears.

“The honourable thing is to respect that promise and just do what is right,” he said.

Another civil servant, Joseph Edeh, urged the government to clear the outstanding four months arrears of the wage award rather than paying monthly.

Mr Edeh said the delay had cast doubts on the sincerity of the federal government.

He said, “On the issue of this N35,000 wage award, honestly, as a civil servant and as a Nigerian, I have lost faith. They told us that we had an outstanding balance of five months; after paying one month, they stopped. Why are they treating us like this? Nobody is happy about this. What they should do is clear the areas, pay the remaining four months at once and forget about it.’’

Also, Franca Ofili urged the federal government to fulfil its promise and save civil servants the burden of expectation.

“The government should try and pay the arrears because that N35,000 can go a long way to solve a lot of their financial problems. We need the money; they should clear the outstanding four months arrears at once,” she said. 

(NAN)