News

Federal Workers In 90 MDAs Yet To Get January Salaries

Published

1 year ago

February 13, 2024

Federal civil servants in about 90 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are yet to receive their January salaries, Daily Trust can report.

The affected MDAs include the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHoCSF), the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, the Ministry of Education, the National Population Commission, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Voice of Nigeria, among others.

In separate interviews with Daily Trust and Premium Times, the workers lamented and said their December 2023 salary delay experience ought not to have been repeated.

“As I am talking to you, myself and three of my colleagues have not been paid. The situation is not fair not with the current situation of the daily increment of prices of food items and other things in the country,” one of the workers said.

Others alleged that the delay in the payment of their salaries was an indication that the government was insensitive to the sufferings of the masses.

The delay in the December salary payment had been attributed to technical issues relating to upload and harmonization of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

The delay in the payment of January salaries was blamed on the technical glitch on the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) platform by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF).

GIFMIS is an IT-based system for budget management and accounting put in place by the federal government to improve public expenditure management processes and enhance greater accountability and transparency across ministries and agencies.

A January 31 memo titled, ‘Delay in the Payment of January 2024 Salary’, from the bursary department of the National Mathematics Centre, Abuja, to all its staff, signed by the acting bursar, Pius Ukwah, said, “We wish to inform you that January 2024 salaries will be delayed beyond normal.

“As of today, the OAGF is still working on finalising the 2024 appropriation on the GIFMIS platform and as a result, the personnel warrant for January is yet to be released”.

The memo, which copied the Director/CE, the Registrar and pasted on all notice boards, stated further, “The same situation applies to all MDAs and not just the centre. We regret the inconvenience caused by this delay.”

In Ekiti State, some of the workers who spoke with Premium Times included staff of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti; Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN); National Orientation Agency (NOA), and Federal Ministry of Information, among others.

An official of FUOYE, Wole Balogun, said with the hardship being faced by the people, it was inconceivable that salaries could be delayed longer than necessary.

Balogun, who blamed the delay on an unnecessary bureaucratic bottleneck associated with the payment platforms, urged the federal government to expedite action on the payment, “because the situation is becoming unbearable.”

A staffer of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, Folashade Daramola, also lamented the delay. She noted that many members of staff have loan obligations that they ought to have paid as at when due, which have remained pending.

Also, Owoeye Ilesanmi, who is a staffer of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), said that in addition to delay in the payment of January salary, the federal government has reneged on the payment of the wage award.

In Katsina State, many federal workers spoken to also said they had not been paid their salary and palliatives support from the government.

Some of the affected workers told Premium Time that the delay was affecting their work schedule, as they now find it difficult to go to work, especially those living in areas far from their offices.

“I work in a department that requires me to go to the office every day, but I’ve finished my savings and I’m finding it difficult to travel to Dutsin Ma to undertake my responsibility,” Faruk (surname withheld), who is an engineer with the department of Physical Planning and Works at the Federal University, Dutsin Ma, said.

Another non-academic worker of the Federal Polytechnic, Daura, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation, said the delay in salary payment was affecting her activities, especially because she travelled daily from Katsina to Daura.

An official of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in Edo State, Jude Abugu, described the delay in payment of salaries as commonplace in recent months.

A memo from the Accountant-General’s Office said work was ongoing towards finalising the 2024 budget on the GIFMIS platform.

When contacted last night, the Director of Press and Public Relations at the OAGF, Bawa Mokwa, told Daily Trust that about 90 offices across the MDAs were affected, including some universities and polytechnics.

He, however, said many of the workers had started receiving their salaries on Thursday; while others did on Friday and at the weekend.

“The issue was attributed to issue of uploading the 2024 budget and making it current because the salary was paid from the 2024 budget instead of the tradition where they overlap the budget,” he explained.

“All has been finalized on Friday. They are supposed to have started getting since yesterday (Saturday). If they don’t get, maybe it is from the banks, from tomorrow (Monday) morning, definitely they will get it”.

A top official in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, who insisted on not being named, said the delay in salary payment was not a punishment for workers.

He confirmed receiving his salary, but said he was aware that some of his “superior officers and some junior workers are yet to receive theirs.”

News

“I am not happy Iran, Israel violated ceasefire deal -Trump declares

Published

5 hours ago

June 24, 2025

ADMIN

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was holding, shortly after he lashed out at both countries and cursed as he accused them of violating the truce.

In a fast-moving series of declarations, the 79-year-old Republican, who was on his way to attend a NATO summit in The Hague, posted on his Truth Social app that “the Ceasefire is in effect!”

“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran. Nobody will be hurt,” Trump wrote.

Minutes earlier, he had castigated Iran and also close US ally Israel for violating a ceasefire he had originally announced late Monday.

The two countries have been “fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing, do you understand that?” the president told reporters at the White House.

Iran violated the ceasefire, “but Israel violated it too,” Trump told reporters on the White House’s South Lawn as he departed for the NATO summit.

“So I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either. But I’m really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning.”

“I’ve got to get Israel to calm down,” he said. “Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I’ve never seen before.”

Trump’s unusually public display of anger at Israel saw the US leader apparently trying to cajole his ally to call off warplanes in real time.

A man looks at items found in the rubble of a destroyed home in the northern Arab-Israeli city of Tamra, on June 24, 2025, days after an Iranian ballistic missile slammed into the neighbourhood. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Earlier the same morning, he had posted on Truth Social: “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS” — without it being clear which bombs he was referring to.

“IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”

If it holds, the truce would be a big political win for Trump in the wake of his risky decision to send US bombers over the weekend to attack three nuclear facilities in Iran that Israel and the United States say were being used to build an atomic bomb in secret.

The US leader had said the truce would be a phased 24-hour process beginning at around 0400 GMT Tuesday, with Iran unilaterally halting all operations first. He said Israel would follow suit 12 hours later.

Israel has been bombing Iran in an offensive that began June 13. The United States joined the attack with a mission starting overnight Friday to Saturday against the deeply buried Fordow complex and two other sites.

cease-fire-iran-israel

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump insisted that the US bombing mission was a success.

“I think it’s been completely demolished,” he said, savaging US journalists for “fake news” and calling two networks “scum” for reporting that it remains unclear whether the Iranian nuclear infrastructure was truly dismantled.

“IRAN WILL NEVER REBUILD THEIR NUCLEAR FACILITIES!” he posted separately on Truth Social.

News

Just in: Senate extends 2024 budget cycle to December 2025

Published

6 hours ago

June 24, 2025

ADMIN

A bill for an Act to amend the 2024 Appropriation Act to further extend deadline for the capital component of the Act and for other related matters 2025 was passed into law by the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday.

The bill was passed into law by the Senate after it passed third reading, following a motion moved by Senate Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, that was seconded by Minority Leader, Abba Moro.

The Nigerian Senate, during a plenary session presided over by Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, amended the 2024 budget and further extended the deadline set for implementation of the capital component from 30 June 2025 to 31 December 2025.

A bill for an act to amend the 2024 Appropriation Act to further extend the capital component of the Act from 30th June 2025 to 31st December 2025 and for other related matters 2025; third reading taken and passed,” the Deputy Senate President declared.

News

Thugs invade SDP headquarters over chairman, others’ suspension

Published

7 hours ago

June 24, 2025

Admin

Violence erupted at the national headquarters of the Social Democratic Party in Abuja on Tuesday as a group of armed thugs dressed in black outfits stormed the premises, unleashing violence on journalists and party staff.

The attack comes amid a deepening crisis within the party, triggered by the suspension of key national officers, including the National Chairman, Alhaji Shehu Gabam.

The party’s National Working Committee had announced the suspension of Gabam, National Auditor, Nnadi Clarkson, and National Youth Leader, Chukwuma Uchechukwu.

They were accused of gross financial misconduct, including embezzlement, misappropriation, and unauthorised diversion of party funds running into hundreds of millions of naira.

Journalists who had gathered at the party office for a press briefing were caught in the fray as hoodlums descended on the premises.

Cameras and phones were seized while some reporters, including our correspondent, were physically assaulted, before security agents intervened.

The violence became public knowledge after the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Rufus Aiyenigba, released a statement announcing the suspensions.

“The decision followed resolutions made by members of the NWC, where overwhelming evidence was presented linking the suspended officials to a series of unauthorised financial transactions, personal enrichment schemes, and movement of funds from the party’s accounts without the committee’s approval,” the statement read.

According to the party’s leadership, the situation escalated when Gabam allegedly submitted an unauthorised financial statement to the Independent National Electoral Commission and caused a summary of the accounts to be published in the media.

This, insiders say, prompted alarm within the party’s inner circle.

“The NWC resolved to alert law enforcement agencies and commence a full-scale internal investigation,” Aiyenigba revealed, emphasising that the party “has zero tolerance for corruption and abuse of office.”

In the wake of the crisis, the NWC has appointed Dr. Sadiq Abubakar, Deputy National Chairman (North), as Acting National Chairman, pending the outcome of ongoing investigations.

Aiyenigba also disclosed that an interim investigative panel has been constituted to audit all financial records and recommend possible legal action against those found culpable.

The committee is expected to scrutinise all transactions, especially those related to the proceeds from nomination forms sold ahead of the 2023 general elections, funds believed to have been misappropriated.

“The party will not shield any individual found guilty.

“Our goal is to restore public confidence in the SDP as a credible alternative for national leadership,” Aiyenigba added.

The suspensions have already been formally communicated to INEC and other relevant agencies.