The Federal Government has assured workers that all outstanding welfare commitments, including unpaid wage awards and promotion arrears, will be honoured, following a meeting with the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC).
The assurance was contained in a statement issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance through its Head of Information and Public Relations, Efe Ovuakporie.
Speaking during the meeting, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, said the administration had already begun addressing some of the workers’ concerns even before receiving a formal communication from the negotiating council.
He reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to fulfilling promises made to Nigerian workers.
“When government makes commitments, it delivers. We are not in the habit of making promises that cannot be fulfilled. Where there are outstanding issues, we will give realistic timelines and ensure they are implemented,” Oyedele said.
The Director of Cash Management, Christiana Osho, disclosed that the reconciliation of outstanding wage award payments had been completed and that eligible workers would receive the funds once the final release is approved.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary for Special Duties, Mohammed Sanusi Danjuma, said Batch 7 promotion arrears, which were omitted during an earlier payment exercise, are now being processed alongside Batch 9.
According to him, affected workers will receive their outstanding entitlements once the processing is completed.
Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Raymond Omachi, pledged stronger collaboration between the government and organised labour to prevent future delays in processing workers’ benefits.
The government’s assurances follow a letter from the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, which demanded an urgent meeting on or before August 11, warning that the failure to pay two months of outstanding wage awards and implement the 40 per cent peculiar allowance for federal workers could trigger industrial action.
The letter, signed by the council’s National Secretary, Gbenga Olowoyo, on behalf of National Chairman Benjamin Yanto, stated that two previous letters on the same issues had received no response and described the situation as a “brewing industrial crisis.”
During Wednesday’s meeting, the council’s Secretary, Minjibir, urged the Federal Government to accelerate action on all pending welfare commitments, including salary relativity adjustments for health workers.
President Tinubu approved the ₦35,000 monthly provisional wage award in October 2023 as a temporary measure to cushion the impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy.
Although payments commenced later that year, they became irregular, leaving several months unpaid. In April 2025, the Office of the Accountant-General announced that the outstanding five months would be settled in instalments, with the first tranche paid in May 2025 and another scheduled for August 2025…..see more