The Federal government says it will soon make some pronouncements on salary increases for workers.
The federal government said the Presidential Committee on Salaries was doing a review and expected to come up with salary adjustments in the new year.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige disclosed this while speaking to state house correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja on December 23.
“The commission is mandated by the act establishing them to fix salaries, wages, and emoluments in not only the public service,” he said.
“So, they have the matrix to do the evaluation. They are working with the presidential committee on salaries, chaired by the finance ministry and I am the co-chair, to look at the workers’ demands.
“Outside this, I said discussions on that evaluation are going.”
On if a timeline has been fixed for the implementation of a salary increase, Ngige said “as we enter the new year, the government will make some pronouncements in that direction”.
Speaking further, Ngige said 2022 has been a year of industrial disputes with the Academic Staff Union of the Universities (ASUU) going on strike, and threats from various unions, including the medical doctors’ association, demanding a salary increase.
“Asking for wage increase can also be understandable because of what inflation had done in the economy and the attendant cost of living for people who have to be workers in the public sector,” he said.
“However, I’ve briefed him (Buhari). We are doing some review within the presidential committee on salaries, and discussions are ongoing.
“The doctors are discussing with the ministry of health; insurance people in the public sector are talking about, and there is a general calmness.
“Hopefully, the government can do something within available resources in the coming year.”
