President Bola Tinubu has announced a provisional salary increase for federal government employees.
Announcing this in his 63rd Independence Day broadcast on Sunday, he said the average low-grade federal worker shall receive an additional N25,000 a month over the next six months.
This will be done in a manner that will not cause inflation.
“We have embarked on several public sector reforms to stabilize the economy, direct fiscal and monetary policy to fight inflation, encourage production, ensure the security of lives and property, and lend more support to the poor and the vulnerable,” he said.
“Based on our talks with labor, business, and other stakeholders, we are introducing a provisional wage increment to enhance the federal minimum wage without causing undue inflation.
“For the next six months, the average low-grade worker shall receive an additional N25,000 per month.”
The president also said an Infrastructure Support Fund has been set up for states to invest in critical areas that would lead to grassroots development, in addition to the provision of funds for relief packages against the rising prices of food and other commodities.
But he was silent on the looming indefinite strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
President Tinubu announced that the report of his special investigator on financial misconduct in the Central Bank of Nigeria will soon be presented to him.
Further listing the measures adopted by his administration to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal, he explained that bold reforms are necessary for a greater Nigeria.
“I am not a man to erect our national home on a foundation of mud. To endure, our home must be constructed on safe and pleasant ground.
“Reform may be painful, but it is what greatness and the future require. We now carry the costs of reaching a future Nigeria, where the abundance and fruits of the nation are fairly shared among all, not hoarded by a select and greedy few. A Nigeria where hunger, poverty, and hardship are pushed into the shadows of an ever-fading past.
“There is no joy in seeing the people of this nation shoulder burdens that should have been shed years ago. I wish today’s difficulties did not exist. But we must endure if we are to reach the good side of our future.”
The president commended Nigeria’s founding fathers and said nothing could stop the country from attaining its place and destiny in the world.
The 2023 Independence Day broadcast is Bola Tinubu’s first as Nigeria’s president.
