FG Approves 100% Duty Tour Allowance, Reviews Civil Servant Welfare Package

The Federal Government has approved a 100 per cent increase in Duty Tour Allowance for civil servants attending approved training programmes, alongside a broad review of peculiar allowances affecting workers across all grade levels.

Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, announced the measures on Friday at a press conference in Abuja, saying the reforms were designed to cushion the impact of inflation on federal workers and improve productivity.

Civil servants on the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure and the Consolidated Research and Allied Institutions Salary Structure will benefit from the reviewed peculiar allowances. Officers attending training at designated institutions — including the Public Service Institute of Nigeria, Administrative Staff College of Nigeria, and six Federal Training Centres in Lagos, Calabar, Enugu, Maiduguri, Ilorin, and Kaduna — will now receive full DTA regardless of whether travel is involved.

“This sends a clear message that government is committed to investing in its workforce, and financial inconvenience will no longer hinder professional development,” Walson-Jack said.

Other entitlements reviewed upward include Estacode, book allowance, and related official benefits. The Federal Executive Council had earlier approved an exit benefits scheme under the Contributory Pension Scheme, providing 100 per cent of a retiring employee’s total annual emoluments as additional retirement benefits from January 1, 2026.

Walson-Jack also announced a ₦10 billion housing loan scheme for civil servants through the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board, sealing the arrangement with a signed MoU on Friday. The Employees’ Compensation Scheme was also operationalised to cover work-related injuries, diseases, disability, and death.

The package covers areas Nigerian civil servants have complained about for years — allowances eroded by inflation, no help getting housing, no safety net for on-the-job incidents. Whether the implementation matches the announcements is the real question.

Sources: Vanguard, Legit.ng, Gazette NG