The Defence Headquarters has reacted to the incessant protest by some discharged soldiers at the Federal Ministry of Finance Headquarters in Abuja.
The reaction formed part of the bi-weekly press briefing held with defence correspondents at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.
TheFact Daily reports that a group of discharged Nigerian soldiers on Thursday resumed protests in Abuja, demanding the payment of their entitlements. The ex-soldiers had on August 4 called off their protest after a meeting with officials of the Ministries of Defence and Finance, who assured them that their outstanding entitlements would be paid by August 10.
The ex-servicemen, who converged on the Ministry of Finance headquarters in the nation’s capital, accused the authorities of neglect and failure to honour promises made after their meeting last month.
Reacting to the development, the DHQ explained that the Federal Government of Nigeria implemented the new minimum wage for all federal government workers in July 2024. Before the implementation of the minimum wage, there was a chart based on which gratuity and Security Debarment Allowance (SDA) was calculated, then, the minimum wage chart.
The 2 charts are: Pre-Minimum Wage Chart, effective 1 Jan – 28 July 2024 and the Minimum Wage Chart, effective 29 July 2024 to date.
The DHQ said that calculation of Gratuity and SDA for military personnel is calculated based on salary chart on the effective date of retirement.
However, the soldiers who retired between 1 January 2024 – 28 July 2024, before the implementation of the new minimum wage wanted their gratuity and SDA to be calculated based on the new minimum wage chart.
“This cannot be done because the policy of the new minimum wage came into effect on 29
July 2024″, the DHQ said.
The Defence Headquarters noted that soldiers who fall within the category of Pre-Minimum Wage Chart, are those who continually protest and construct barricades at the Federal Ministry of Finance, despite being educated on the 2 charts, and reiterated that government policies have effective date of implementation and this case cannot be an exception”.
The Defence Headquarters, while acknowledging freedom of legitimate protest, strongly advised the veterans to “tread with caution and vacate the premises of the Federal Ministry of Finance in order to pave way for normal government functions to be seamless conducted”.
