The Federal Government said it would soon make a pronouncement on salary increase for civil and public servants to cushion the effect of high inflation on the workers. The government said already, the Presidential Committee on Salaries was doing a review and expected to come up with salary adjustments in the new year. Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, disclosed this to State House Correspondents after he had a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Ngige, who said that he was at the seat of power to discuss exhaustively issues concerning his ministry, including employment and productivity, described 2022 as a year of industrial dispute. Asked whether he discussed the issue of salary increase with the President considering the rising inflation, he said:” Yes, the Presidential Committee on Salaries is working hand-in-hand with the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission. The commission is mandated by the Act establishing it to fix salaries, wages, and emoluments in not only the public service.“If you want their assistance and you are in the private sector, they will also assist you. They have what is called the template for remuneration, for compensation. So, if you work, you get compensated, if you don’t work, you will not be compensated.”On whether a timeline had been fixed for the implementation of the new salary increase, he said:” As we enter the new year, the government will make some pronouncements in that direction.”On why he was at the State House, Senator Ngige said he came to brief the President on the activities of his ministry as the year comes to an end. According to him, “I came to brief Mr. President, you know the year is coming to an end and we have to look at our 2022 exhaustively. As part of my ministry, we discuss labor issues, and what we were able to do. First, we look at the employment situation in the country and what we have achieved and what we have not achieved.“Employment is high. I had to tell him about the successful ones we are in. We also had a briefing on productivity viz a viz the various industrial disputes we had in 2022.“It’s a year we can call a year of industrial dispute starting from the February Academic Staff Union of the Universities, ASUU, strike which was joined by other sister unions in the university system and even the people in the research institutes.