FG To Address Pay Disparity Between Civil And Public Servants – Oyo-Ita

The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Ms. Winifred Oyo-Ita says the federal government is looking into bridging the pay gap between civil and public servants across the country.

Oyo-Ita made the disclosure on Thursday while appearing as a guest on NTA’s flagship programme, Good Morning Nigeria.

The Head of Service spoke on the topic “Reform in the Nigerian Civil and Public Service”.

She appeared on the programme alongside Dr Joe Abbah, former Director General of Public Service Reforms and Dr. Otivie Ibuso, the Executive Director African Centre for leadership, Strategy and Development.

Oyo-Ita, who is a member of the minimum wage committee constituted by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2017, said there is ongoing deliberation on the pay disparity between the public and civil servants.

“There is a difference between civil service and public service, civil service is a subset of public service, so you find that in the enlarged public service we have parastatals that are earning fantastic sum of money and we have military and para-military earning money that cannot be compared to that of the civil servants.

“This core group of civil servants are just about 80,000 and they earn peanuts. A driver in the civil service earn as low as N18,000 to N20,000 a month.

“You have a director who has been in the Service for over 30 years, due for retirement is having a monthly take home of about N300,000, whereas that is the starting point of some graduates in some parastatals.

“In some parastatals, fresh graduates are starting on N250,000 – N300,000 and you want the director to go and supervise such agencies.

“All the issues of pay disparity will be addressed in the Presidential National Minimum Wage committee.”

Speaking on the home-grown 2017-2020 Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, Oyo-Ita said the strategy is aligned with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the federal government.

She explained that a Project Management Team had been set up and are working on daily bases to ensure proper implementation of the reform.

She further stated that the reform will stand the test of time as it is the reform that has been designed and implemented by civil servants from the civil service.

The Head of Service said her team took time to go through about 30 reforms already implemented in the civil service and came up with the 2017-2020 FCSSIP, paying attention on the drawbacks of past reforms.

She said the target of the reform is to have an Efficient, Productive, Incorruptible and Citizen-Centred civil service, which she believes will foster collaboration, improve employee engagement and enhance overall performance.

“A presidential brief team chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari with some key ministers and generals of the federation as members, and championed by private sector leaders and international donors.

“The reform is designed by civil servants, the team leaders of the Project Management Teams are directors drawn from different ministries.

On his part, Dr Abbah called for a strong partnership between the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) and the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC).

This, he said, will help in fast tracking issues of pay review and promotion in the civil service.