Chris Ngige, the minister of labor and employment, announced on Wednesday that the federal government has authorized a salary increase for the nation’s civil officials.

In light of the current economic climate, Ngige, a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today program, said the wage hike is an odd benefit for federal officials.

He explained that the money will help the government workers navigate through inflation, the rising cost of living, and the hike in transportation fairs, housing, and electricity tariffs.

“The Federal Government is looking at giving people in the public service a pay raise to take care of the increased cost of living,” he said.

“We put a percentage for the President to approve, we have approved it at our committee level. We said it should take effect from January 1, 2023.”

According to the minister, the current administration has made provision for the increment of civil workers’ salaries in the 2023 budget.

During the interview, the minister also spoke on the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), saying the policy has curbed insecurity and vote buying during the 2023 general elections.

He, however, admitted that the implementation of the policy was not smooth.