With the restoration payment of gratuity to federal civil servants by the Federal Government, the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has assured its members that it would monitor the development closely and ensure that it is implemented accordingly.

While looking forward to the implementation of the new gratuity, the association said the move would boost the morale of civil servants.

A statement by ASCSN National President, Shehu Mohammed and Secretary-General, Joshua Apebo, commended President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for listening to the cries of thousands of federal civil servants by approving the exit benefit scheme that grants retiring federal civil servants a gratuity equal to 100 per cent of their total yearly emolument.

“We are really glad that after decades of struggles by the union to ensure that federal civil servants who have served the country for 35 years or attained 60 years of age, whichever comes first, can now be rewarded as they used to be in the past,” they said.

They recalled that gratuity to federal civil servants was stopped when the Pension Reforms Act 2004 was enacted, with the claim that the Act did not expressly abolish payment of gratuity.

According to the labour leaders, since 2004, the association had sent several memoranda to the FEC, written a series of letters to the government, and was also brought to the fore during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari, when the association paid a courtesy visit in Abuja.

“We assure our teeming members that we will monitor the development closely and ensure that it is implemented accordingly,” the union emphasised.

The labour leaders posited that gratuity is a monetary benefit given by an employer to his or her employee at the time of retirement, without any contribution made by the worker, which can be used for post-retirement ventures.

They added that payment of gratuity is predicted in the concept that those who have laboured for public and private organisations for decades are entitled to the proverbial “golden handshake” from their employers for their mental and physical exertions during the course of their services.