Wages Commission defends budget, set to harmonize salaries of various MDAs
The National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) says it has received the mandate to harmonize salaries of various MDAs.
This, according to the Commission, will bring to a tolerable level, the issue of pay disparity in the Public Service.
The Executive Chairman, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, High Chief(Dr) Richard Onwuka Egbule,  made this known during the Commission’s budget defense in the House of Representatives Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs.
He said to achieve an enduring harmonization; efforts are being made to have a comprehensive review of grading system.
High Chief Richard Egbule told the Committee that the Commission achieved an implementation level of 74% of the 2018 budget which he hoped the 2019 budget of the Commission would surpass.
He said the greatest problem bedeviling the Commission is the issue of office accommodation after 25 years of its existence.
The Chairman of the Commission said it was because of lack of office space that the Commission could not recruit in the last 10 years, adding that the need for more office space has become more pressing.
He noted that the Commission operates from 6 different locations which according to him would not enhance the building of a distinct organizational culture, but added that necessary contacts had been made to ameliorate the situation including a courtesy visit to the Minister of FCT.
On the mandate of the Commission, High Chief Egbule noted that without the inputs of National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, the efforts put in the National Minimum wage would have been in vain as all the computation relating to its implementation were generated from the Commission.
In a remark, the Chairman, House of Representative Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs, Alhaji Husseini Kangiwa called on the Commission to make the issue of office space a priority and build it in its budget and bring in the National Assembly to back it up.
He noted that an important agency like the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission that is at the heart of workers welfare should have a befitting building of its own.
Alhaji Kangiwa advised the Chairman, National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission, High Chief Richard Egbule to liaise with various agencies including the SGF on the issue of office space and accommodation for the Commission.