Federal Salary Delays: MDAs Face Liquidity Issues Amid Funding Shortfalls

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has attributed the delay in February salaries for certain federal workers to critical funding shortfalls within specific institutions.

According to the OAGF, the disruptions occurred in agencies where the allocations for personnel costs were insufficient to meet payroll requirements for the month.

Bawa Mokwa, the Director of Press and Public Relations at the OAGF, clarified in a statement on Monday that the issue is limited to a small group of organizations.

Affected entities include the Federal Ministry of Steel Development, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Kamuku National Park, and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN).

Mokwa explained that the temporary budget gap in these establishments prevented the processing of February wages but assured that steps are being taken to address the shortfall.

He noted that steps are already being taken to address the situation, adding that the affected ministries and agencies have been asked to liaise with the Cash Management Office within the Federal Ministry of Finance to secure the required funds and complete the outstanding payments.

The Accountant-General’s office clarified that the payroll challenges are not systemic, emphasizing that the vast majority of the federal workforce received their February salaries as scheduled.

The disruption remains isolated to specific agencies facing budget gaps.

The OAGF also addressed a unique payment hitch involving civil servants with accounts at Standard Chartered Bank.

While the government has successfully remitted these funds, employees have reportedly been unable to access them due to an internal bank policy requiring a minimum opening balance of ₦7 million.

The office maintained that the bottleneck lies with the financial institution’s account terms rather than a failure in government remittance.

Authorities assured the public that they are working to resolve both the agency funding shortfalls and the banking access issues.

In the meantime, workers in the affected institutions have been urged to remain calm while administrative processes are finalized to release the pending payments.