Nigeria’s restive Federal Public Servants have been given another assurance that their salary scales are to be reformed.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan said President Muhammadu Buhari had given her his assurance of the Government’s commitment to harmonise Federal salaries before the end of 2021.
Dr Yemi-Esan (pictured) admitted the “huge gulf” in the salary scales of the Public Service needed to be addressed as quickly as possible.
“A lot of work is being done on salaries. I Chair a Presidential Committee on Harmonisation of salaries in the Public Service and actually it takes a lot of work,” Dr Yemi-Esan said.
“It’s unfortunate that the differences between grades are too wide, and that’s the problem the committee is having right now,” she said.
“It might not be possible to bring those that are on some of the highest levels down.”
However, Dr Yemi-Esan said the Government could not afford to bring all those whose work and responsibilities deserved it on to the high salary grade.
“What we are trying to do is to find a way of bringing most people up and then also find out what we do with those that are already too high,” the Head of the Civil Service said.
“Let me assure you that a lot of work is being done, and we are working with the Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labour and Employment who all have representatives on the committee.”
She said all members were in agreement that something must be done “especially for those core Civil Servants who are on the lowest salaries”.
“My prayer is that by the end of the year, we would have come to a conclusion,” Dr Yemi-Esan said.
Abuja, 28 October 2021
