FG pays NIMET staff 45-month outstanding areas

The federal government of Nigeria has paid the outstanding 45-month minimum wage arrears owed to staff of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).

The non-payment of the arrears, which date back to 2019, has often pitted NiMet management against the staff of the agency and the labour unions.

Recalled that the unions had planned to embark on industrial action on May 20, 2024.

However, following an intervention by the House Committee on Aviation Technology and their Senate counterpart, the unions suspended the strike action after an agreement was reached on Sunday, May 19, 2024.

The Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike, who disclosed the approval thanked President Bola Tinubu for authorising the payment of the arrears.

“Mr. President has demonstrated once again that he is a worker-friendly president. The issue of the unpaid 45-month wage arrears predates this administration, but still, Mr President has cleared the outstanding,” he said.

He also commended the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, also the Chairman of the House Committee on Aviation Technology, Rt. Hon. Abiodun Isiaq Akinlade, and members of the Committee as well as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, and the members of the Committee for the role he played in ensuring the money was paid.

Staff of NiMet, through the NiMet Unions Joint Action Committee (NJAC) in a release signed by Comrade Okechukwu Nwokoro also expressed their profound gratitude for the collective intervention in ensuring the payment of the outstanding minimum wage arrears owed to NiMet staff from 2019 to 2022.

They said that “this significant action has greatly alleviated the financial challenges faced by our workforce and has renewed our hope and commitment to serving the nation with excellence”.

Continuing, the unions thanked Anosike for his leadership and relentless pursuit of the welfare of NiMet staff.