Delta State Government has restored the payment of full salaries to civil servants on grade level 07 and above and all categories of political office holders.
The government on Friday, cited the recent increase in electricity tariff and increase in the pump price of petroleum products as reasons for the restoration.
In July, this year, the government had an agreement with the organised labour to begin the implementation of pay cut policy for the affected public servants on account of the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the state’s economy.
While affected civil servants had their salaries reverted to the old N18,000.00 minimum wage structure, the political office holders had 25 per cent of their salaries yanked off.
The policy of pay cut, according to the government, would be for six month when the state’s economy is expected to improve.
But two months down the line, the government has ordered the reversion to the actual salaries of the workers, saying that hardship was imminent as a result of the increment in electricity tariff and pump price of petroleum products.
In a circular issued on Friday by the state’s Accountant General, J.E. Enwa (Mrs.) said the latest directive of the government takes immediate effect with September salaries.
“The new directive takes immediate effect and as such the September 2020 payroll is to be processed based on the directive to revert to the status quo prior to the implementation of the attached Agreement in July 2020 payroll,” the circular read.
State chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Goodluck Ofobruku had expressed pains over the increment in the prices of the essential items after a meeting with government officials in Asaba.
Ofobruku however, thanked workers in the state for their patience and understanding in the past two months, and promised that better things were on the way for them.
He stressed that the earlier agreement was a six months period on the condition that as soon as things improved, the state government would stop the deduction.
The labour leader said the deduction had to stop as a result of the cost of things had seriously gone higher than expected in addition to the hike in price of fuel and electricity bills, just as he stated that workers must not always be the victims of such effect.
