By Atinuke Alao
The Director General, Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, Comrade Issa Aremu, has lauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for restoring gratuity in public service.
He described the restoration of the ‘take home pay’ after retirement from service as a morale booster for employees in the federal civil service.
Aremu stated this on the sidelines of the event commemorating International Women’s Day held at the MINILS Headquarters, Ilorin on Monday.
The Herald reports that the federal government, through the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, announced 100 per cent restoration of gratuity to all federal workers, effective from January 2026.
It would be recalled that the then federal government abrogated gratuity for workers in federal civil service after the introduction of contributory pension scheme in 2004.
Lamenting the negative impact of the abolition of the gratuity before the advent of Tinubu-led government, the MINILS Director General also commended the government at the centre for protecting public jobs.
Aremu observed that the return of gratuity validates “Tinubu as a foremost labour friendly President with respect to decent work through job security, job creation and unprecedented pension arrears payments.”
He said, “Let me use today to congratulate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for restoring gratuity for the public service. This President has not only protected public jobs, he has ensured no retrenchment, no downsizing as we witnessed in one of the previous governments.
“Now, we have this government that has protected jobs. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has cleared pension arrears close to about N980billion. Now, he has restored gratuity for workers. And I think the challenge of this is that one good turn deserves another. We call on the workforce to also reciprocate.”
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) recently approved a new Exit Benefit Scheme that restores gratuity payments of 100% of annual salary for federal employees effective from January 1, 2026.
