Labour unions heavily criticized the Federal Government for reducing the supplementary budget allocation for wage awards to federal civil servants by N100 billion, stating it contradicted their agreement with the government.
According to data from the revised 2023 Supplementary Budget, the government made changes such as substituting the controversial N5 billion presidential yacht allocation for Navy barges, boosting defense budget from N476.54 billion to N546.21 billion, and assigning N20 billion as capital supplementation for the National Intelligence Agency.
The approved N2.1 trillion 2023 Supplementary Budget faced controversy due to extravagant items, prompting amendments by the National Assembly.
Initially estimated at around N210 billion for a four-month wage award, the revised document showed a reduction to about N110 billion.
The Ministry of Defence saw an increase from N476.54 billion to N546.21 billion, with an additional allocation of N69.67 billion. Within this, the Nigerian Navy received an additional N25 billion, raising its total allocation from N62.8 billion to N87.8 billion, replacing the presidential yacht with a self-propelled barge.
Furthermore, the Defence Intelligence Agency’s total allocation rose by N30 billion, and allocations for other agencies like the Office of the National Security Adviser and the First Lady’s office also increased significantly.
Despite the prior agreement for a wage increase, the government’s decision to slash the allocation drew warnings of resistance from the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress.
While reacting to the development, the Assistant General Secretary, Nigeria Labour Congress, Chris Onyeka, said the agreement was for the government to raise the wages of federal civil servants and not to reduce them.
He said, “Are you saying they cut down the wage awards by N100bn? Well, we have been talking about the high cost of governance and if they decided to reduce their bills by cutting down their numerous aides and assistants, that’s alright.
“But if it is that they don’t want to pay workers what they are supposed to pay, then there is a problem. How can you subject workers to further reductions in their salaries? No way! We agreed to a wage award of N35,000 to all federal workers, so the wage award has to increase.”
Also speaking, the Head of Information, NLC, Benson Upah, said, “We were not informed before this was done. However, this behaviour is not inconsistent with the psychology of this government. It’s sad!”
