BY COBHAM NSA, ABUJA – The National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) has assured that contestations around pay disparity in Nigeria’s Public Service will soon be a thing of the past.
According to the Commission, with its mandate to harmonize salaries of various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the current disproportionate pay structure will be reduced to a tolerable level.
A statement by Emma Njoku, Chief Press Secretary to the Commission, quotes its Executive Chairman, High Chief Richard Onwuka Egbule, as saying that the NSIWC is ready to undertake a comprehensive review of the grading system towards achieving an enduring salary harmonization in the nation’s Public Service.
Chief Egbule, who spoke at the Commission’s budget defence before the House of Representatives Committee on Inter-governmental Affairs, assured that the contentious pay inequality would be resolved to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.
He also told the Committee that the Commission achieved an implementation level of 74 per cent of its 2018 budget, stressing that the management was working on surpassing that mark with the 2019 budget.
The NSIWC boss said the greatest challenge facing the Commission in its 25 years of existence remains lack of a befitting office accommodation that has constrained it from recruiting staff in the last 10 years.
Chief Egbule said the need for enhanced workforce and qualified personnel to handle mounting responsibilities have therefore made it imperative for the Commission to own a comfortable accommodation where it can carry out its official business with ease.
Explaining that the Commission currently operates from six (6) different locations in Abuja, Chief Egbule said this arrangement was awkward and has continued to hamper the Commission’s distinct organizational culture of efficiency.
He however said necessary contacts made to ameliorate the situation, include a courtesy visit on the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to intimate him of this existing challenge.
On its mandate execution, Chief Egbule disclosed that the Commission made huge inputs into the new National Minimum wage, especially in generating all the computations that relate to its eventual implementation.
In his remarks at the session, Chairman, House of Representative Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs, Alhaji Husseini Kangiwa urged the Commission to prioritize its office accommodation challenge by capturing it in the 2019 budget and return to the National Assembly for legislative approval.
Alhaji Kangiwa said as a key agency at the heart of workers’ welfare, the Commission deserves to own befitting accommodation that would enhance its operations and effective service delivery.
On the issue of office space, the Committee Chairman charged the Commission’s management to liaise with relevant agencies, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to address the accommodation challenge.
