The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called for a fresh review of retirement age for civil servants in the country.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero, who made the call during the 2023 Workers’ Day celebrations on Monday in Abuja, asked that the retirement age be revised to 65.
Ajaero also called for a general review of core civil servants’ salaries to narrow the gap between other civil servants’ emoluments and those in other segments of the public service, noting that the extension of years of service should go round, as it had been done in other sectors of the public service in the country.
Speaking further, the NLC president said the union had, in the past, demanded salary review but was yet to receive the federal government’s attention.
“It is necessary to recall that we have continued over the years to demand that the salaries of core civil servants be beefed up to narrow the gap between their emoluments and those in other segments of the public service.
“They all possess the same educational qualifications and cognate experience on the job. So why the disparity?” Mr Ajaero queried.
Ajaero, who also spoke on gratuity payment, said union leaders had presented the issue to the government but had not received any positive response.
He said: “Fellow comrades, we have consistently presented the issue of gratuity payment to the government but nothing has been done in that regard.
“As you are all aware, the concept of gratuity payment to employees is predicated on the fact that those who have laboured for public institutions or private enterprises are entitled to the proverbial golden handshake from their employers.
“Thus, gratuity is a monetary benefit given by an employer to his/her employee at the time of retirement without the worker making any financial contribution whatsoever to the fund.”
He insisted that the idea behind gratuity payment is to help retirees to finance post-retirement endeavours.
“The Pension Act did not abolish gratuity payment and we demand its restoration in many public sectors where it has been stopped,” Ajaero added.
