The Trade Union Congress has spoken about the pressure that rising living costs place on workers and their families. These concerns deserve attention. When earnings buy less, the strain reaches the household, the journey to work and the working day itself.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved transport support of ₦70,000 a month for Federal Government civil servants, across the board for six months. Each civil servant covered by the approval will receive ₦420,000 over that period, in addition to existing remuneration.
This is temporary support to ease the cost of living. It is not a negotiated wage award or a salary review.
The President initiated this specific payment without it being solicited by organised labour or proposed through the collective bargaining process involving workers and employers, including the Federal Government. Its purpose is to provide immediate relief while discussions on wages proceed.
The support will put more purchasing power into workers’ hands, helping with transport and leaving more of their earnings available for food and other household needs. It responds to the hardship caused by rising costs, including pressures that travel through global energy markets, supply chains and production into the prices families pay each day.
The amount is the same across the board. For civil servants on lower salaries, it represents a larger share of their earnings and will therefore bring proportionately greater relief.
The payment and a permanent salary increase carry different commitments for the public purse. The transport support runs for six months, giving government a defined obligation to fund over that period. A salary review carries expenditure into future years and requires provision for the continuing cost and related obligations.
This explains why government can provide relief now while working with labour and other employers towards a lasting wage settlement. The responsibility is to meet an urgent need and ensure that every continuing promise can be honoured. A worker should be able to count on an agreed payment when it falls due.
By easing some of the worry that follows workers from home to work, the intervention is also intended to support productivity. It is a Federal Government commitment to its civil servants, funded within its own fiscal arrangements. It carries no expectation that other employers should adopt the same measure. Employers face different financial circumstances, and many may have limited room for additional expenditure. Decisions on any similar support must therefore rest with each employer, taking account of its resources, existing obligations and capacity to sustain employment.
The next national minimum wage review is due in July 2027 under the three-year review cycle. The Federal Government has accepted the proposal to begin negotiations ahead of the due date. There is no need to wait until July to begin the work.
Organised labour and employers of labour will participate fully in those negotiations, alongside government. The Budget Office of the Federation will provide the fiscal analysis needed to help the parties reach an agreement that improves workers’ welfare and can be funded reliably.
The transport support is a bridge through the present hardship. The wage negotiations must address the longer road ahead. Both efforts should proceed with respect for workers, an understanding of their daily needs and care for the resources entrusted to government.
Tanimu Yakubu
Director-General
Budget Office of the Federation