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Fuel Subsidy: FG Begins 40% Pay Rise For Workers April Ending

Published

2 years ago

April 18, 2023

Editor

Barring any last-minute change of plans, the Federal Government will begin payment of the planned increase in civil servants’ pay by the end of this month (April).

President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to give his final assent for disbursement any moment from now.

If the proposal sails through, it means the increase will be coming about two months to the June date proposed for the removal of petrol subsidy.

Officials of the Federal Government told The PUNCH that the fresh pay increase, tagged consequential allowance, would lead to a 40 per cent rise in the current pay of government workers.

Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH, the Director of Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olajide Oshundun, revealed that the Federal Government might begin payment of the 40 per cent pay rise by the end of April this year, adding that the three months arrears of January, February and March would be paid at a later date.

Oshundun, however, said he could not confirm if the proposal by the government committee saddled with the task had been finally approved by the President.

He said, “Consequential allowance Salaries will be increased by 40 per cent for civil servants from level 1 to level 17.

“What we receive now is called consolidated public service salary structure, it is the combination of basic and all allowances. So, the increase will be 40 per cent of what a public servant is earning now.

“They will start paying from the end of this month (April) and the arrears of January, February and March will be paid later. The salary increase is effective from January 2023. That is the proposal submitted by the committee set up to look into salary adjustment for civil servants, but am not sure if the President has signed it yet.”

Last month, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige disclosed that the Federal Government had 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 is meant to help government workers to cushion the effects of rising inflation, rising cost of living, hikes in transportation fare, housing and electricity tariffs.

The PUNCH reports that Nigeria’s headline inflation increased to 22.04 per cent year-on-year in March, the highest rate since September 2005.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics data, the latest rise in inflation rate is the third consecutive increase this year, increasing by 0.13 per cent points when compared to the February 2023 headline inflation rate.

The NBS added that the cost of food and beverages contributed significantly to overall inflation.

“The contributions of items on the divisional level to the increase in the headline index are food and non-alcoholic beverages (11.42 per cent); housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel (3.69 per cent); clothing and footwear (1.69 per cent); transport (1.43 per cent); furnishings, household equipment and maintenance (1.11 per cent); education (0.87 per cent); health (0.66 per cent); miscellaneous goods and services (0.37 per cent); restaurant and hotels (0.27 per cent); alcoholic beverage, tobacco and kola (0.24 per cent); recreation and culture (0.15 per cent) and communication (0.15 per cent),” the NBS report added.

However, leaders of the organised labour on Monday described the proposed pay rise as a meagre allowance that would not be equivalent to a 40 per cent increase in workers’ salaries.

Reacting in a telephone interview, the National Vice President of the Trade Union Congress, Tommy Etim, confirmed the moves by the government to increase “allowances and not salaries” as publicly insinuated.

According to him, the allowance is an increased arising from the peculiar circumstances surrounding the removal of the fuel subsidy and inflation. He, however, stressed that civil servants were yet to receive the payment.

He said, “I am aware of the moves by the government and the payment is to start from January. The new payment is not an increase in workers’ salaries. It is a peculiar allowance and not an increase in salary, so we don’t misinform the public.

“It is just an increase in basic salary and not across board. Other components are not touched so that the market woman will not think the government has increased salary.

“It is an allowance because of the peculiar circumstances surrounding the removal of fuel subsidy and inflation. An allowance is not a salary. No civil servant has received so I cannot speak authoritatively until it hits everyone’s bank account.”

Etim, who is also the president of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, further charged the government to consider increment of other allowances such as rent and transportation

“We would also admire it if other allowances are looked into, especially housing and transport. The present socioeconomic indices don’t favour transportation for civil servants with some spending their whole salary just on transportation, not to talk of rent and other bills. The government should also look at that aspect as it is very important,” he added.

However, the Nigerian Labour Congress denied knowledge of the proposed increment noting that “We are only hearing it as rumours.”

The National Treasurer, NLC, Hakeem Ambali, said the union had yet to be involved in any form of discussion concerning the issue.

He said, “For us, we are only hear it as rumours because there are procedures for negotiating fringe benefits and workers’ entitlement which is through collective bargaining. It is a tripartite thing that would have to be negotiated. But with what we are seeing, it still looks like a rumour, we are still waiting that the Federal Government will invite the necessary arm of labour where negotiation will be done and we would agree.

“Any increment not based on available and empirical data would not be agreeable to labour. We must sit down to look at the inflationary and economic trends to arrive at a logical conclusion. So the first step is to go back to the negotiating table.”

When asked about the union’s next action if the government went ahead with the proposed plan, he simply said, “We would continue in our push, even in our acceptance speech we made it clear that labour will negotiate with the Federal Government on minimum wage increment, so any allowance that doesn’t take cognisance of the economic reality of the day is not acceptable to labour.”
PUNCH

Headline

Russian Strikes Kill Five In Ukraine, Cause Power Outages

Published

14 hours ago

October 5, 2025

Editor

Russian strikes Sunday on Ukraine killed five people and badly damaged energy infrastructure, temporarily severing power supplies to tens of thousands and prompting neighbouring Poland put ground defence on high alert.

Russia has stepped up strikes on energy networks, increasing fears Moscow would resume its widespread campaign of attacks on power facilities, which have plunged millions into darkness in past winters.

Russian forces fired 496 drones and 53 missiles at Ukraine, the majority of which were shot down, according to the Ukrainian air force.

“Sadly, five people were killed. My sincere condolences to everyone who lost loved ones to this terror,” Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Strikes killed four people near Lviv, which lies in western Ukraine and is hundreds of kilometers from the front line, and has been largely spared the attacks that have hit cities further east.

“Near Lviv, an entire family of four was killed in their home, including a teenage girl,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.

Emergency services released photos showing firefighters battling flames in a destroyed building, and helping elderly residents to safety.
Attacks also killed one person in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia and wounded people near the eastern front, local authorities said.
“Russians once again targeted our infrastructure -– everything that ensures normal life for our people,” Zelensky said.

The strikes cut power to over 110,000 subscribers across several regions, Ukraine’s emergency services said, with the hardest hit being Zaporizhzhia.

– ‘Gas, heat and light’ –
Overnight, more than 73,000 people in Zaporizhzhia were left without electricity, regional head Ivan Fedorov said, though power had been partially restored by the afternoon.

Ukraine’s state-run gas company Naftogaz network also reported damage to its network.
“These maniacal terrorist strikes are aimed solely at one thing — depriving Ukrainians of gas, heat, and light,” Naftogaz CEO Sergii Koretskyi said in a statement.

The Russian army said it launched an attack “against enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine and gas and energy infrastructure facilities that ensured their operation.”

Russian attacks have also rattled Ukraine’s European allies after a spate of alleged Russian airspace violations into Europe.

NATO boosted its defences along its eastern borders throughout the month as it accused Moscow of testing the alliance’s air defences with drone incursions into several members and by flying military jets in Estonian airspace.

Overnight Poland’s armed forces said on X that they had mobilised planes and put ground defences on high alert to secure the country’s airspace, especially in areas close to Ukraine.

Ukraine also said Russia was intensifying a campaign of air strikes on its railway network in an attempt to isolate frontline communities ahead of winter.

Russia launched drones at two passenger trains in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region on Saturday, killing one person and wounding dozens, according to Ukrainian officials.

Headline

Badenoch Unveils Strict UK Immigration Plan, Targets 150,000 Yearly Deportations

Published

14 hours ago

October 5, 2025

Editor

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, has unveiled an aggressive immigration reform plan aimed at detaining and deporting 150,000 illegal migrants annually, in what she described as the “toughest reforms Britain has ever seen” in border policy. The announcement was made in a video message posted on her X account on Sunday.

The plan, dubbed the Radical Borders Plan, envisages the establishment of a new Removals Force modelled after the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which would replace the current Home Office Immigration Enforcement unit. According to Badenoch, the Removals Force will have a mandate to remove all illegal entrants, foreign criminals, and undocumented migrants, while also monitoring illegal work. She stated, “My message is clear: if you’re here illegally, you will be detained and deported.”

Badenoch sharply criticised previous administrations, accusing both Conservative and Labour governments of failing to manage the migration crisis effectively. “Successive governments have failed on immigration. Labour promised to smash the gangs. Instead, in just a year, they delivered record small boat crossings, over 50,000 illegal arrivals, 32,000 people in asylum hotels, billions wasted. It’s pure weakness. Britain needs a serious, credible plan and the backbone to deliver it,” she said.

The proposed plan includes several controversial measures. Asylum claims from illegal entrants would be banned, the Human Rights Act repealed, and the United Kingdom withdrawn from the European Convention on Human Rights. Badenoch added that all new illegal arrivals would be deported within a week, with legal obstacles to mass removals removed and visa sanctions imposed on countries that refuse to repatriate their citizens. She also pledged to “shut down the asylum hotel racket,” which she said would save taxpayers billions and restore public confidence in the UK’s border controls.

The Removals Force, if approved, will operate with an annual budget of £1.6 billion, double that of the current Immigration Enforcement unit, funded by savings from the closure of asylum hotels and other measures within the asylum system. The force will have sweeping powers, including the use of facial recognition technology without prior warning, and will integrate closely with the police. Priority for removals will include new illegal entrants, foreign criminals, failed asylum seekers, visa over-stayers, and others identified as residing in the UK illegally.

In an interview on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch faced criticism for her refusal to specify the destinations to which deported migrants would be sent. She responded, “I’m tired of all of these irrelevant questions about where they should go. They will go back to where they should be or another country, but they should not be here.” When pressed further, she added, “They will go back to where they came from.”

According to the Conservative Party document detailing the plan, the proposed measures are intended to increase removals from the current 34,000 per year to approximately 150,000, marking a five-fold increase in enforcement activity. The party argues that the reforms are necessary to address what it describes as uncontrolled migration and to strengthen public trust in the country’s border system.

Badenoch’s announcement has intensified the ongoing debate in the UK over immigration policy, balancing border security with human rights considerations. Critics have expressed concern over the repeal of the Human Rights Act and the use of facial recognition technology without oversight, while supporters have welcomed the proposed measures as a decisive step in tackling illegal immigration.

The Radical Borders Plan is expected to be submitted for parliamentary consideration in the coming months, with its implementation contingent on legislative approval and coordination with existing law enforcement structures.

Headline

Trump Threatens To Unleash ‘Hell’ On Hamas

Published

2 days ago

October 4, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump has given Hamas until 2200 GMT on Sunday to accept his 20-point plan for peace in Gaza, warning the Palestinian militant group faced “all hell” if it did not agree to the terms.

The US leader set the deadline — which would fall at 1:00 a.m. Monday in Gaza — after an official for the Islamist movement told AFP earlier on Friday that the group still needed time to study the proposal to end nearly two years of devastating war in the Palestinian territory.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

The proposal, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

That would be followed by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.

“Hamas is still continuing consultations regarding Trump’s plan… and has informed mediators that the consultations are ongoing and need some time,” the official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

On Tuesday, Trump gave Hamas “three or four days” to accept his plan, which has been welcomed by world powers, including Arab and Muslim nations.

Mohammad Nazzal, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said in a statement Friday that the “plan has points of concern, and we will announce our position on it soon.”

As Hamas mulled Trump’s peace plan this week, a Palestinian source close to the group’s leadership told AFP on Wednesday that the Islamist movement wanted to amend some clauses, including the one on disarmament.

Hamas leaders also want “international guarantees” for a full Israeli withdrawal and that no assassination attempts would be made inside or outside Gaza, the source added.

Another source familiar with the negotiations told AFP that the group was split over Trump’s plan.

Structurally, the group’s leadership is divided between officials based in the Gaza Strip and those abroad, particularly in Qatar.

Much of Hamas’s leadership has also been wiped out in Israeli attacks throughout the war.

The source told AFP that “the first (opinion) supports unconditional approval, as the priority is a ceasefire under Trump’s guarantees, with mediators ensuring Israel implements the plan”.

“The second has serious reservations regarding key clauses… They favour conditional approval with clarifications reflecting Hamas’s and the resistance factions’ demands,” the source added.

Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said “ultimately it’s not just about convincing Hamas leadership in Doha, but also the leadership in Gaza, as well as Hamas members and fighters in Gaza.”

“Additionally, Hamas must then be able to convince other factions in Gaza,” he added.

The war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 66,288 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

Their data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.