FG to workers: Expect salary increment soon – Newstrends
Connect with us

News

FG to workers: Expect salary increment soon

Published

on

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige

The Federal Government said it would soon make a pronouncement on salary increase for the civil and public servants to cushion the effect of high inflation on the workers.

The government said already, the Presidential Committee on Salaries was doing a review and expected to come up with salary adjustment in the new year.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, disclosed this to State House Correspondents after he had a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Ngige, who said that he was at the seat of power to discus exhaustively issues concerning his ministry, including employment and productivity, described 2022 as a year of industrial dispute.

Asked whether he discussed the issue of salary increase with the President considering the rising inflation, he said:”Yes, that’s what I am saying that the Presidential Committee on Salaries is working hand-in-hand with the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission. The commission is mandated by the Act establishing it to fix salaries, wages, and emoluments in not only the public service.

“If you want their assistance and you are in the private sector, they will also assist you. They have what is called the template for remuneration, for compensation. So, if you work, you get compensated, if you don’t work, you will not be compensated.”

READ ALSO:

On whether a time line had been fixed for implementation of new salary increase, he said:”As we enter the new year, government will make some pronouncements in that direction.”

On why he was at the State House, Senator Ngige said he came to brief the President on the activities of his ministry as the year comes to an end.

According to him, “I came to brief Mr. President, you know the year is coming to an end and we have to look at our 2022 exhaustively. Part of my ministry, we are to discuss labour issues, and what we were able to do . First, we look at the employment situation in the country and what we have achieved and what we have not achieved.

“Employment is high. I had to tell him the successful ones we are in. We also had a briefing on productivity viz a viz the various industrial disputes we had in 2022.

“It’s a year we can call a year of industrial dispute starting from the February Academic Staff Union of the Universities, ASUU, strike which was joined by other sister unions in the university system and even the people in the research institutes.

“And, thereafter, threats from various unions, including the medical doctors’ association and its youth wing, the National Association of Resident Doctors, JOHESU, which is also the Joint Health Sector Union all were asking for a wage increase.

READ ALSO:

“However, I’ve briefed him, we are doing some review within the Presidential Committee on Salaries, and discussions are ongoing. The doctors are discussing with the Ministry of Health, insuring people in the public sector and there is general calmness. Hopefully, within available resources, the government can do something in the coming year.”

On the position of government on the eight month’s outstanding salaries ASUU is requesting, he noted that for now, the matter was in court for proper interpretation of the Trade Dispute Act as it concerns no work, no pay policy invoked by the government during the strike period.

He said: “ASUU has not pronounced anything on their salaries anymore because it’s one of the issues that was referred to the National Industrial Court for determination, whether a worker who is on strike should be paid in violation of section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act, which says when you go on strike, the consequences are these: number one, you will not be paid, you will not be compensated for not going to work to enable your employer keep the industry or enterprise afloat.”

“That money should not be given to you, and that compensation should not be given. It’s there in Section 43 (1). There is a second leg to Section 43, it also said that that period you were on strike will not count for you as part of your pensionable period of work in your service. That leg, government has not touched it, but the leg of no-work-no-pay has been triggered off by that strike.”

Vanguard

News

Nigerian woman declared dead appears in UK court to reclaim her £350,000 home

Published

on

June Ashimola

Nigerian woman declared dead appears in UK court to reclaim her £350,000 home

A 55-year-old Nigerian woman, June Ashimola, who was falsely declared dead, has appeared via video link from Nigeria before the UK High Court to prevent a convicted fraudster from seizing her £350,000 home in Woolwich, southeast London.

Ashimola was wrongly declared dead in February 2019, sparking a long legal battle over her estate.

However, she has now presented herself before Deputy Master John Linwood, asserting that she is alive and a victim of fraud.

According to DailyMail on Wednesday, the court heard that following her wrongful declaration of death, power of attorney over her estate, which consisted primarily of a house, was granted to Ms. Ruth Samuel, acting on behalf of Bakare Lasisi, who falsely claimed to have married Ashimola in 1993.

However, the judge ruled that the supposed marriage was a fabrication and that Lasisi did not exist.

According to court records, Ashimola left the UK for Nigeria in 2018 and had not returned since.

By October 2022, power of attorney had been awarded to Samuel on behalf of the fictitious Lasisi, who laid claim to Ashimola’s estate.

The judge ultimately found that Tony Ashikodi, a convicted fraudster who served three years in prison in 1996 for obtaining property by deception, had orchestrated the elaborate scheme to seize her home.

READ ALSO:

“This is an unusual probate claim in that the deceased says she is very much alive,” Deputy Master Linwood remarked, describing the case as a web of fraud, forgery, impersonation, and intimidation.

“The root of this claim is a long running battle or campaign waged by a Mr Tony Ashikodi for control and/or ownership of the property.

‘Ms Ashimola left the UK for Nigeria in about October 2018 and has not returned since. This claim involves wide-ranging allegations of fraud, forgery, impersonation and intimidation,” Linwood added.

Despite visa challenges preventing her from appearing in person, Ashimola’s identity was verified through passport photographs, leading the judge to dismiss the claims against her estate.

After reviewing the evidence, Deputy Master Linwood ruled, “’I find Ms Ashimola is alive and that the death certificate was forged and/or fraudulently obtained or produced or concocted.

“Her alleged death was part of Mr Tony Ashikodi’s attempts to wrest control of the property from her.

“The person who appeared before me and identified herself as Ms Ashimola was physically like her photographs in each passport.

READ ALSO:

“I find that Ms Ashimola was not married to Mr Lasisi and that the marriage certificate is a concocted or fraudulent document for these reasons.

“I do not accept Mr Lasisi exists or if he does is aware of his identity being used. I do not accept that emails supposedly from him were actually from him.”

He further accused Ashikodi of attempting to mislead the court and found that both Ashikodi and Samuel were either directly involved in producing the fraudulent documents or knowingly relied on them.

He added, “I find that the probate power of attorney submitted supposedly by Mr Lasisi and Ms Samuel was a fraudulently produced or concocted document.

“The death certificate was not proven to the necessary standard in that only a copy was produced. The provenance was unknown. There was no evidence before me that it was a genuine document evidencing a real event.

“I find it was forged and/or fraudulently produced or concocted. The persons who relied upon it namely Mr Tony Ashikodi and Ms Samuel were either directly involved in its production or else knew it was false.’”

As a result, the power of attorney was revoked, safeguarding Ashimola’s rightful ownership of her £350,000 property.

The court also heard that legal costs incurred by both parties have exceeded £150,000, an amount that may surpass the property’s equity value.

 

Nigerian woman declared dead appears in UK court to reclaim her £350,000 home

Continue Reading

News

Natasha: Senate writes IPU on her suspension

Published

on

Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan

Natasha: Senate writes IPU on her suspension

The complaint filed by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan at the United Nations Inter-Parliamentary Conference in New York has continued to generate reactions from various quarters.

The Kogi Central lawmaker had taken her case to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), alleging injustice and harassment, including her recent suspension from the Nigerian Senate.

Following her presentation, the IPU assured her that it would take necessary steps to address her grievances but emphasized the need to also hear the other side before making any official pronouncement.

The Nigerian Senate has however replied to Senator Natasha’s complaint to the IPU through a letter written by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.

The letter was read by the Chairperson of the House of Representatives committee on Women Affairs and Social Development, Honorable Kafilat Ogbara, who is attending the event in an official capacity representing Nigeria.

The Senate letter read in part, “Senator Natasha-Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for gross misconduct and unruly behaviour and not as a result of allegation of sexual harassment or assault.

READ ALSO:

“The authority of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria firmly refutes the deliberate misinformation and false narrative being circulated by certain media organisations regarding the sixth months suspension of Senator Natsaha-Akpoti-Uduaghan.

“Let it be unequivocally stated that Uduaghan was suspended solely for her persistent act of misconduct and disregard for the Senate Standing Orders.”

Honourable Ogbara, however, called for a thorough investigation into the allegation by Senator Natasha against the Senator President, Godswill Akpabio.

She maintained that procedures and necessary actions under the Senate rules were observed before Senator Natasha’s suspension.

Last week, the Senate suspended the lawmaker in a move that has continued to generate debates across the country.

She had initially submitted a petition to the Senate accusing Akpabio of sexual harassment. But the lawmakers threw it out before suspending her even after submitting another petition.

Senator Natasha vowed to continue the fight against “injustice”. But in the wake of the suspension, Akpabio denied the accusations and maintained he has never assaulted women.

Her altercation with the Senate president started on February 20, 2025, after her seat was changed during plenary.

That is not the first time both individuals had issues. In July 2024, Akpabio had while trying to correct her for misconduct told her to follow the rules and that the Senate is not a nightclub where anybody can talk anyhow. The Akwa Ibom lawmaker, however, later apologised to her for the remark.

 

Natasha: Senate writes IPU on her suspension

Continue Reading

News

Tinubu set to appoint new ambassadors after 18 months

Published

on

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Tinubu set to appoint new ambassadors after 18 months

President Bola Tinubu is finally taking steps to fill Nigeria’s diplomatic leadership positions after operating without ambassadors for a year and a half.

According to a credible source in the Presidential Villa, the government has completed the screening of potential candidates to head Nigeria’s over 100 diplomatic missions worldwide. A senior official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed that the appointments are expected “very soon.”

This move follows Tinubu’s decision in September 2023 to recall all Nigerian ambassadors shortly after taking office.

“The issue is being resolved,” the source said, indicating that the long diplomatic vacuum may be coming to an end very soon.

“Nigeria’s security services have conducted background checks on potential appointees and have shared their findings with relevant agencies in the presidency and legislature”, according to an intelligence official.

The foreign affairs ministry has previously blamed financial constraints for the delay in naming new diplomats.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation has budgeted N302.4 billion this year to operate its foreign missions.

READ ALSO:

A former Nigerian ambassador who served in Africa and the United States noted that since taking office in May 2023, President Tinubu has focused primarily on addressing Nigeria’s struggling economy, with foreign policy taking a second priority.

The former ambassador, who requested anonymity, said government officials had informed him that several foreign leaders had raised concerns about Nigeria’s lack of ambassadors during discussions with President Tinubu. According to this source, the president has assured these leaders that appointments will be made soon.

Another official who asked to remain anonymous as he was not authorised to speak to the press confirmed that the appointment was imminent.

“Ambassadorial appointments require approval from the National Assembly. So, the list will be submitted to the Senate President, who will then announce it. But it has not been submitted yet. Yes, I can confirm that but it will be submitted shortly.

In April 2024, the government appointed 12 consuls-general and five chargés d’affaires to represent Nigeria in 14 countries, but these interim measures fell short of filling the leadership vacuum in key missions.

Consuls-general and chargés d’affaires can perform routine administrative duties and oversee the operations of an embassy. They, however, lack the diplomatic weight to engage at the highest levels, such as with heads of state or critical international negotiations.

This newspaper learnt that a founder of a tier-one bank, a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State and the Speaker of a House of Assembly in the North were considered for the ambassadorial roles.

Tinubu set to appoint new ambassadors after 18 months

Continue Reading

Trending