Headline

ASUU, NARD Kick As FG implements 40% Pay Rise for Civil Servants, Excludes Doctors, Lecturers

Published

2 years ago

April 24, 2023

Eric

Only the 144,766 Federal civil servants under the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure will benefit from the new 40 per cent peculiar allowance introduced by the Federal government.

This implies that other workers under the employment of the Federal government but operating under different salary structures will not benefit.

For instance, university workers, who are under the Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure, and medical doctors, who work for the Federal government, will also not benefit from the pay rise as they are under the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale.

Other categories of Federal workers who will not benefit from the peculiar allowance are nurses, non-academic workers in tertiary institutions, the police and members of the armed forces, among others.

Reports quoting a memo of the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission headed by Ekpo Nta noted that only 144,766 staff members of the federal civil service under the CONPSS salary structure would be paid.

Ekpo said in a memo addressed to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, thus: “I refer to my letter No. SWC/S/04/S,651/11/271 dated 24th of February, 2023 and the conclusions of the 11th meeting of the Presidential Committee on Salaries held on 7th of March, 2023 on the above-mentioned subject and convey approval for the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to implement the peculiar allowance attached herewith for staff on the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure.”

“This approval takes effect from 1st of January, 2023 and the estimated sum of seventy nine billion, three hundred and seventy-three million, three hundred and forty thousand, nine hundred and fifty-nine Naira (N79,373,340,959.00) per annum required to implement it for the 144,766 staff on CONPSS will be funded from the treasury.

“The commission will periodically monitor the implementation of this approval through salary inspections.”

In a breakdown attached to the memo, the commission stated that a total of 144,766 staff members would benefit from the payment.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, had disclosed that the Federal Government approved a pay raise for civil servants in the country.

He added that the pay rise had been included in the 2023 budget, noting that it would take effect from January 1, 2023.

Ngige described the pay raise as a peculiar allowance for civil servants in view of the current economic reality and it was meant to help government workers to cushion the effects of rising inflation, rising cost of living, and hikes in transportation fare, housing and electricity tariffs.

Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has protested the exclusion of its members from the payment of the peculiar allowance.

The National President of the union, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, accused the government of trying to create problems in the system, adding that ASUU would study the situation on the ground and make its stand known soon.

“We just saw the news this evening that arrears are being paid to workers. We are surprised. However, we will study the situation. The government is simply trying to create a problem in the system. We are watching and we are studying the situation of things on the ground,” he said.

The government will spend N79.37billion annually to fund the pay rise, even as some workers have started enjoying the largesse.

The amount will be funded from the treasury.

Some Federal civil servants reportedly confirmed receiving bank alerts of the arrears for the first three months of the year.

A senior civil servant in Ilorin the Kwara State, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that the arrears came in alongside the April salary.

“I have received my own arrears. Some of our other colleagues have also confirmed receipt of theirs. It came in alongside our April salaries,” the civil servant said.

An Ibadan-based civil servant, who confirmed the development, said: “Yes, it is true. Though I am a teacher in a Federal Government school, I can confirm to you that I received my April salary alongside the arrears.”

The Federal government approved a 40 per cent pay rise for workers to cushion the effects of the planned removal of fuel subsidy.

The spokesman for the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Olajide Oshundun, said the pay rise would be applicable to all workers from level 1 to 17.

However, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors has kicked against the exclusion of doctors from the Federal government’s pay rise for civil servants.

The President of NARD, Dr Emeka Orji, said: “Our members are not happy with that development, because since over one year that the Federal government commenced the processes of increment in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure both for doctors and other health workers, that process has yet to be completed.

“We are happy that they increased the salary of civil servants, but the only thing is that they have yet to do ours up till now. These are some of the things causing agitation.

“I’m sure that when we have our national emergency council meeting on Friday, April 28, 2023, this will be part of the major discussions and decisions will be taken in that meeting.”

Orji said the association might be forced to take a more drastic action if urgent steps were not taken regarding pay rise for its members.

He added: “We have gone past the era of petitioning the government. We are currently having a hard time calming our members down and it may not be as easy as we did at the January NEC meeting.

“Instead of increasing the salary, the government is trying to use the back door to sponsor a bill to restrict our movement.”

Headline

Presidency Raises Alarm over Alleged Plot to Overthrow Tinubu’s Govt

Published

2 hours ago

July 9, 2025

Eric

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, has alleged that a group of political actors is plotting to remove the president from office ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Onanuga made the claim in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday. Without naming specific individuals or parties, he said the alleged efforts are being coordinated by those he described as “haters of Nigeria’s progress”.

According to the presidential aide, “haters of Nigeria’s progress are banding together to overthrow an administration that has been the most focused, most transformative in our history.”

His remarks followed recent developments around a political alliance taking shape under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which aims to challenge Tinubu’s re-election bid.

Onanuga referenced a 2022 comment by the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, in which the monarch warned voters against believing promises of quick solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.

“Emir Sanusi warned Nigerians what to expect from President Tinubu’s reforms. ‘It’s not going to be easy.’ If anybody tells you it would be easy, don’t vote for him,” he wrote.

He maintained that the Tinubu administration is pursuing reforms designed to reshape the country’s future, suggesting that opposition to these changes is at the root of current political maneuverings.

The post did not offer further details or evidence to substantiate the allegation of an overthrow attempt.

No official response has been issued by the groups involved in the emerging political coalition.

Headline

I Go with Atiku Just As Obidients Are Free to Support Peter Obi – Dele Momodu

Published

1 day ago

July 8, 2025

Eric

Accomplished media executive and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Aare Dele Momodu, has reaffirmed his unwavering support for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to emerge as the presidential candidate of the opposition coalition under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 elections.

Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Monday evening, Momodu emphasised that while he stands with Atiku, he respects the right of other political supporters, including the Obi-dients to back their own candidates, particularly Labour Party’s Peter Obi.

“My best choice is Atiku, and that is what I expect Obi-dients to say, which I expect those who support Amaechi to say — there’s nothing wrong with that,” Momodu stated.

“I have never asked anyone not to support Obi. Obi is my very good friend. If you asked me about one of the people who should lead the coalition, I would say it should be Obi. But as a democrat, I’m appealing to them, hoping they will be able to do it democratically so that they will not say it was forced upon them.”

He stressed that all aspirants, including Obi and former Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, should face the test of popularity through a democratic process.

Headline

APC vs Coalition: Gladiators Draw Battle Line

Published

2 days ago

July 7, 2025

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

Following the last week’s unveiling of a coalition movement under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to challenge the President Bola Tinubu-led national government in 2027, the two contending parties are leaving no stone unturned in the battle of wits to outdo each other and gain the confidence of the electorate.

No doubt, the final merger of coalition advocates with the already existing ADC has been described as the biggest shake-ups in Nigerian politics since the end of military rule in 1999, relegating the alliance that led to the ouster of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 to the background. In retrospect, this is not the first time the ADC has presented itself as a platform for adoption. In 2018, the party was adopted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s political movement, the Coalition for Nigeria Movement, but its operations were shortlived, and could not match the APC and PDP dominance in 2019.

But today, the situation is different as most of the apparachiks that constitute the then PDP, and a few of those in the APC are now morphed in the ADC.

But with these development, the mouthpieces and major stakeholders of both political parties are on each other’s throats with figures, facts and most of the time, propaganda tailored towards discrediting one another in the race to secure, or wrest the seat of power, currently occupied by President Tinubu.

The coalition’s unveiling, which took place in Abuja, witnessed the presence of various politicians across different political divides in the country. The party claim its major mandate is to boot out the administration of Tinubu, and rescue democracy, which according to them, is suffering and in near comatose status, in addition to restoring the dignity of the Nigerian citizen, restore parity in class differentiation and re-birth a life of ease for Nigerian citizens.

Among the politicians present at the event are Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party Presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Malam Nasiru El-Rufai, Former Kaduna State Governor, Mr Rotimi Amechi, former Governor of Rivers State.

Others are, Gabriel Suswan, Benue State former Governor, Datti Baba Ahmed, Senator David Mark, former Nigerian Senate President, Aminu Tambuwal, Sokoto State former Governor, among others. The group has labelled the ruling APC as a disaster to the nation.

“The APC government, which came into being on the false and evil propaganda to save Nigeria from PDP is now a disaster to our nation and therefore must be voted out of power,’’ the coalition noted in a communiqué issued after their meeting.

Former Senate President David Mark was nominated as the Interim National Chairman of the party, while Rauf Aregbesola, former Governor of Osun State, was nominated as the National Secretary.

In his remark, the National Chairman stated that the essence of a coalition is not a power struggle, but rather the repositioning of the country’s democracy that would enhance good governance.

According to Senator Mark, the party invites Nigerian politicians willing to join and commit to ADC in preparation for the 2027 general elections, urging members to be dedicated and steadfast in advancing the party’s progress.

“On the operational focus and structure of the New Political Coalition, which unites Nigeria’s opposition groups, political parties, youth organizations, civil society, and various patrons from all regions of our country.

Over time, this coalition of national political groups transcended gaming and political power. Today marks the beginning of what will be your long, difficult, and tedious journey.

“However, it is a journey that we are prepared to undertake to unite our collective belief and make our country, Nigeria, great again, regardless of our tribe, religion, and ethnicity,” he said.

However, the APC speaking through its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, dismissed Mark’s statement as “nothing but stitches of untruths, diatribe, and regurgitated and baseless allegations against the APC-led administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu”.

He said, “From beginning to end, Senator Mark said nothing about the purpose of the so-called coalition other than a loud declaration of desperation for power. What value does the coalition bring to Nigerians? Why should any Nigerian be concerned about a coalition of a bunch of egotistical maniacs for whom power and patronage are the oxygen on which their lives depend?

“One would have expected that, after months of vacillating between the devil and the deep blue sea, in search of a host platform, Senator Mark and his co-travellers would take Nigerians seriously enough by telling them what their coalition would do differently regarding the administration’s bold economic and sectoral policy reforms. What key alternative policy approaches would the coalition implement, and with what prospects of success compared to the high value and transformative impact of the administration’s reform policies? What exactly is the philosophical or ideological leaning of the coalition or its new party, aside from desperation for power at all cost, by all means necessary and unnecessary?”, APC queried.

African Democratic Congress ADC was originally named “Alliance for Democratic Change”. It was later renamed and registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Nigerians have had to battle uncertainty in their standard of living in the last 25 months of Tinubu’s administration, and this has necessitated the formation of a viable opposition front ahead of the next general elections. This is as the main opposition party, PDP, as hitherto known, seems to have imploded.

The political space has spiced up with the new ADC to halt the inordinate decamping of politicians to the APC, and as 2027 approaches, it is the side that convinces Nigerians better with human faced policies that may eventually carry the day, and so the gladiators on both divide have drawn the battle line to achieve this feat.