By Yunus Abubakar
The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, has clarified that the ₦70,000 monthly transport support approved by President Bola Tinubu for Federal Government civil servants is not a salary increase.
Yakubu said the intervention would last for six months, with each eligible worker receiving a total of ₦420,000 in addition to existing remuneration.
He made this known in a statement made available to Peoples Daily on Thursday, amid concerns over the rising cost of living and its impact on workers.
The Budget Office chief explained that the payment was intended to provide immediate relief while discussions on a sustainable wage settlement continued.
“This is temporary support to ease the cost of living. It is not a negotiated wage award or a salary review,” he said.
Yakubu stated that Tinubu initiated the payment without a request from organised labour or a proposal through the collective bargaining process involving workers and employers.
He said the intervention would help civil servants meet transport expenses and leave more of their earnings available for food and other household needs.
According to him, although the amount is uniform across the board, lower-paid workers would benefit proportionately more because the allowance represents a larger share of their earnings.
Yakubu noted that the transport support and a permanent salary increase carried different financial implications for the government.
He explained that the six-month payment created a defined financial commitment, while a salary review would impose recurring expenditure on public finances in subsequent years.
He said the government was therefore providing immediate relief while preparing for negotiations with organised labour and other employers.
“The responsibility is to meet an urgent need and ensure that every continuing promise can be honoured. A worker should be able to count on an agreed payment when it falls due,” Yakubu added.
The Budget Office chief also cautioned against expecting other employers to introduce similar support, noting that their financial circumstances and capacity to sustain additional expenditure differed.
On the next national minimum wage review, Yakubu said negotiations were due in July 2027 under the three-year review cycle.
He disclosed that the Federal Government had accepted a proposal to begin negotiations ahead of the deadline.
“There is no need to wait until July to begin the work,” he said.
Yakubu added that organised labour, employers and the government would participate in the negotiations, with the Budget Office providing fiscal analysis to help the parties reach an affordable and sustainable agreement.
He said the transport support was a temporary measure to cushion the current hardship, while the wage negotiations would address workers’ longer-term welfare.
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