Uche Usim and Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
As the agitations by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to review their salaries heighten, the Federal Government, yesterday, told all the ministries to halt all adjustments to salaries.
National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), which gave the order on behalf of the Federal Government said the call became necessary due to the issue of the national minimum wage and the adjustments, which are being contemplated by MDAs. Consequently, it ordered that until the issue of minimum wage is settled, all requests for salary reviews should be suspended.
The Chairman, NSIWC, Dr. Richard Onwuka Egbule, stated this when he played host to a delegation from the National Environmental Standard and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) led by its Director General, Prof. Aliyu Jauro, on a courtesy visit.
A statement from the Chief Press Secretary, Emma Njoku, quoted Egbule as saying that a committee to work out the consequential adjustment on salaries in the public service as a result of the minimum wage has been inaugurated by the Federal Government.
Earlier, the Director General of NESREA, Prof. Jauro, had complained that the IPPIS had suddenly removed some allowances being enjoyed by the agencies. He explained that the agency has written to the IPPIS for the restoration of these allowances to no avail.
Egbule who expressed concern that, “some boards of agencies unilaterally reviewed salaries of their agencies without consulting NSIWC,” said that, “the actions were inappropriate and would not be condoned by IPPIS.”
Meanwhile, a new policy that will outlaw the sale Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) or cooking gas by the roadside vendors and transfer ownership of the cylinders from consumers to only marketers licensed by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) is being fine-tuned by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
Speaking on Tuesday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ forum on LPG penetration in Abuja, the Senior Technical Adviser Downstream and Infrastructure to the Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Brenda Ataga explained that the new policy gives complete ownership of the LPG cylinder to the dealers and distributors, saying it was part of a well-thought out strategy to address safety concerns and deepen the penetration of LPG.
According to her, the federal government had reached an agreement with two original cylinder manufacturers to deliver 600,000 cylinders to LPG distributors on credit, with a pre-payment period of 18 months.
She said with the recent launch of LPG Micro Distribution Centres starting with the Nigeria Army barracks and cantonments, government was targeting 386,000 micro distribution centres across the country that would drive the initiative.
The government, she noted, has directed all LPG skid operators to immediately convert their outlets to micro distribution centres or risk sanctions.
She revealed that the Federal Government, will, in weeks ahead, commence total clampdown on illegal roadside LPG dealers adding that anyone caught selling LPG without the proper equipment and licence risk jail.