Chris Ngige

The Federal Government has said it would spend about N34 billion on the ongoing payment of minimum wage consequential adjustments to education sector workers with effect from 2019.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, disclosed this while responding to questions from Labour correspondents in Abuja on the prolonged ASUU strike.

According to Ngige, the universities would get N23.5b, the polytechnics N6b and the Colleges of Education N4b, totaling about N34b.

Regarding the ASUU strike, the Minister said the committees set up during the last tripartite-plus meeting of the government and university-based unions were given a fortnight to turn in their report, and they were still working.

He added that the reports of the committees were being expected this weekend.

He said, “Those committees are working. The one on NITDA is testing the three platforms, the government’s Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) of ASUU, and the Universities Peculiar Personnel Payroll System (UPPPS) of the non-teaching staff.

“They started the testing last Thursday. The National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) has issued their amendment circulars. The unions also have copies to take care of responsibility and hazard allowances wherever it has not been properly captured.

Ngige assured Nigerians that there may likely be wage adjustments as the government intensifies efforts to streamline wages through the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.

“We have done that of the Police, for example. It wasn’t envisaged that we should do it in bits. But you can see that it has been done. You can also see university teachers saying that their own should be done immediately, since we have done police. So, something is being done. It was part of the 2009 negotiation they had with the government then. So, the committee of Prof. Briggs is on it, discussing with the university unions and their employer, the Federal Ministry of Education. They will bring up something for government to see.

“There are other people. The doctors are complaining about brain drain, this and that. Their hazard allowance has to be touched and it was touched by close to 300 percent. From N5,000 paid across board for each person, the least person in the health sector is getting N15,000 while the big ones are getting N45,000. That is a quantum leap.”

The minister appealed to ASUU and other university-based unions once more to suspend their strike so that academic activities could resume in public universities across the country.