The Federal Government yesterday said it was ready to pay
death benefits, promotion arrears and other outstanding debts running close to
N300 billion to civil servants. Head of the Civil Service of the Federation,
Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.
She said
government would pay the outstanding arrears to federal civil servants in
phases, particularly those on promotion arrears, repatriation allowance and
death benefits, among others, amounting to about N293 billion. Oyo-Ita, who addressed
the press during the 2016 Civil Service Week celebration, said President
Muhammadu Buhari had directed the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and
the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to explore ways to make
the payments. She said government had delayed payment due to financial
challenges currently facing the country.
Oyo-Ita stated that the affected
workers would be paid their benefit claims after the conclusion of the phased
payment formula, which the Service was reconciling in collaboration with the
office of the Accountant General of the Federation. She assured that staff
welfare would be addressed from many fronts, noting that the service was
exploring the possibility of providing bulk payments of rent allowances for workers
within this financial year.
Mrs. Oyo-Ita stated further that a committee had
since been set up on national salary review and would sit with the relevant
stakeholders to take a decision on pay rise. She added that there was no plan
to retrench workers, saying “it is cruel to throw people into the labour
market.”
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