Why February salaries are delayed for Steel Ministry, 4 MDAs - OAGF

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has issued a formal clarification regarding the non-payment of February 2026 salaries to staff within the Federal Ministry of Steel Development and four other government agencies.

In a press statement released from the Treasury House on Monday, March 9, the OAGF attributed the delay to specific personnel cost shortfalls within the affected organizations.

The clarification follows growing anxiety among civil servants who remained unpaid while colleagues in other ministries had already received their February disbursements.

According to the OAGF, the shortfall impacted the Federal Ministry of Steel Development, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), the National Rural Electrification Agency (NREA), Kamuku National Park, and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN).

The Accountant-General’s office has instructed the management of these MDAs to coordinate with the Cash Management Office of the Federal Ministry of Finance to rectify the funding gaps and facilitate payment.

Beyond the administrative shortfalls, the OAGF addressed a unique challenge facing civil servants whose salary accounts are domiciled with Standard Chartered Bank.

The OAGF confirmed that while the salaries for these staff members had been successfully processed and dispatched to the bank, many employees were unable to access their funds.

This is reportedly due to a recently implemented policy by the bank requiring a minimum opening balance of N7 million for certain account segments, a threshold far exceeding the average civil servant's earnings.

The statement clarified that the salaries of the affected workers had been paid to the bank, but the staff were unable to access them due to the bank's internal policy requirements.

The Director of Press and Public Relations at the OAGF, Bawa Mokwa, assured all affected workers that the government is working promptly to resolve both the personnel cost shortfalls and the banking hurdles.

The OAGF emphasized that the delay is localized to these specific organizations and bank-related issues, noting that the broader federal workforce has already been paid for the month of February.