By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has attributed the delay in the payment of June salary to technological difficulties.
Director of Press in the OAGF, Mr. Bawa Mokwa, who disclosed this however stated that the office is working round the clock to redress the situation.
According to Mokwa the delay was caused by technical issues with the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS), one of the salary platforms.
“As we speak, the Directors and the consultant in charge of the platforms are in a crucial meeting, working round the clock to resolve the problem.
“Anytime from now, the salaries will start to drop,” he said.
Meanwhile, some civil servants in Abuja have been lamenting the delay in the payment of June salaries.
According to Mrs Uloma Offor, the salary is overdue.
“I depend on this monthly salary to survive; I pay my debts and buy food items, but with the delay all these are not possible. I plead with the federal government to pay up so I can restock my home, my children are crying at home,” she said.
Another civil servant, Mr Jones Tolu, said the delay in the payment of salary, coupled with the removal of petrol subsidy, had made life difficult for the masses.
“My friends in some parastatal and ministries have received their June salaries, but not all of them. My children cannot go to school because I have outstanding payment to make and their examination comes up soon.
A trader in Wuse market, Ibrahim Umar, said that he experienced low patronage over the Sallah celebration and is still experiencing it due to the delay.
“The market has been experiencing low patronage in recent times, and this is connected to the delay in payment of June salary to civil servants”, he added.