Atiku Claims Tinubu Govt Owes Wage Awards Beyond Six Months

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of failing to pay federal workers their full wage awards.
He criticized Tinubu’s decision to eliminate the petrol subsidy on his first day in office, which has buried the average Nigerian beneath the weight of inflation and hunger.
He argued that the decision to remove fuel subsidies was premature and inconsiderate, and that it has caused considerable economic hardship.

In a message posted on his X account on Sunday, Atiku accused the current administration of failing to uphold its pledge to mitigate the impact of the subsidy elimination with a temporary wage award for federal public staff.

“In an effort to handle the self-inflicted crisis, the administration offered to provide a wage award to federal civil officials as a temporary cushion until discussions on a new national minimum wage were completed.

“That promise, like many others under this government, has become a broken covenant,” he claimed.

Atiku pointed out that it took the government ten months to agree on a new minimum wage, during which time the wage award was intended to serve as a temporary remedy.

“By inference, the federal government owes federal employees 10 months in wage award arrears. Yet, just six months have been paid, and that is after a succession of unmet promises and unnecessary delays,” he stated.

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He stated that each worker is entitled ₦35,000 each month for four months, totaling ₦140,000 per individual.

Atiku applauded certain state governments for addressing labor issues appropriately, but chastised the federal government for demonstrating “callous indifference and utter disregard for workers’ welfare.”

He also decried the continued detention of Andrew Uche Emelieze, a labor activist who was jailed about two weeks ago for seeking to organize a peaceful protest against the unpaid salary awards.

“Instead of engaging in dialogue or fulfilling its promises, the government has now resorted to tyranny and suppression of free speech,” the prime minister stated.

His only ‘crime’ was advocating for workers abandoned by the state.”

Atiku demanded Emelieze’s immediate and unconditional release, describing his arrest as “an affront to democracy, a slap in the face of every Nigerian worker, and a chilling reminder of the Tinubu administration’s authoritarian drift.”