The Federal Government has announced plans to pay federal civil servants benefits incurred through service wide staff claims, particularly those bothering on promotion areas, repatriation allowance and death benefits, among others which amounts to about N293bn.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita explained that the government is exploring phased payments of the benefits.
Oyo-ita said that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to explore ways of making the payments.
She stated that government has till this moment not been able to pay the claims largely because of the financial challenges, presently facing the country.
Oyo-ita further stated that the affected workers will be paid their benefit claims after the conclusion of the phased payment formula that is being reconciled 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.
She declared that a committee was since set up on national salary review and would sit with the relevant stakeholders to take a decision on pay rise, adding that there was no plan to retrench workers, saying “it is cruel to throw people into the labour market.”
