Abuja: When 41-year-old Sunday Arikuyeri, a Grade Level 14 officer in a federal ministry in Abuja, received his June salary alert on Monday evening, he did not bother checking the balance immediately. He already knew what awaited him. Deductions for cooperative loans and purchases, commercial lending facilities, and informal salary advances. Arikuyeri knew that the deductions would have swallowed almost everything before the money reached his account through the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS). What eventually reflected in his bank account was barely enough to pay for transportation to work for a few days, leaving nothing for food, rent, electricity bills, or his children’s school needs.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Arikuyeri’s story and lamentation reflect the silent reality facing many civil servants in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where mounting debts, driven by high living costs, hyperinflation, and inadequate salaries, have turned public service into a daily struggle for survival. For thousands of workers, monthly earnings disappear almost as soon as they arrive, leaving families trapped in a relentless cycle of borrowing, repayment, and financial hardship. In separate interviews with NAN, some of the civil servants said their salaries are exhausted by deductions before meeting basic needs.
Mr. Gabriel Ajogun, a grade level 14 officer in a federal government agency, recounted that 24 years in service has not translated into financial stability or ownership of basic assets. According to him, he lives in a rented apartment and owns no car, as cooperative deductions and loan repayments consume most of his monthly salary under IPPIS. Ajogun described his financial condition as suffocating, explaining that all his three children were trained in public schools – one already a graduate, the second in the final year, while the last has just secured admission into a federal college of education. Educating his children remains his only consolation amidst persistent salary deductions and rising living costs.
To buttress Ajogun’s predicament, Hajiya Salamatu Ahmed, Executive Secretary of the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board, recently cried out that the heavy loan deductions from workers’ salaries have made them ineligible for housing loans. Speaking at a forum in Abuja, Ahmed said the majority of federal government workers have already mortgaged their salary by taking a series of loans from agencies that operate ‘sharp loans’. Ahmed added that the situation was worrisome because the board had increased its loan ceiling to N20 million for senior workers to benefit, but only a few could access the fund.
Another civil servant, Mrs. Iniebong Akpan, told NAN that she supplements her income by preparing snacks – puff-puff, meat pies, fish rolls, zobo, and kunu drinks – for sale. According to her, she brings them to her office daily, selling to colleagues to support her family amid rising food and transport costs. Akpan said the small business helps her pay school fees and utility bills, though profit remains very limited due to high ingredient costs. She noted that juggling official duties and vending has become exhausting but unavoidable for survival.
For Mrs. Grace Okafor, a civil servant residing in Deidei, Abuja, she now uses her personal car for commercial transport, popularly called ‘kabukabu,’ to augment her income. Okafor said she ferries passengers between Deidei and the Federal Secretariat daily and also works as an Uber driver during weekends. The single mother of three children, however, lamented that the dual role has begun to wear down both her health and vehicle. ‘Mechanics are also dealing with me due to constant repairs of my car because of increasing wear and tear on the rough and congested routes,’ she said.
A civil servant who pleaded anonymity admitted he now relies on begging colleagues, friends, schoolmates, and political contacts to survive. The civil servant explained that each month ends with new debts, forcing him into repeated requests for assistance. Another worker, Akin Adejumo, said he ventured into poultry and fish farming using a cooperative loan from his office, hoping to improve his financial situation. According to him, lack of experience led to high mortality among his birds and fish, resulting in heavy losses.
Dr. Ibrahim Yusuf, a development economist, said excessive borrowing among civil servants reflects structural wage and inflation imbalance. He urged the government to review remuneration frameworks and reduce reliance on salary-linked lending systems. Yusuf advised financial discipline, warning that multiple loans worsen long-term economic vulnerability. Another Financial Expert, Dr. Chika Nwosu, said many civil servants lack structured personal financial planning. She advised workers to prioritize essential spending and avoid overlapping loan facilities from multiple sources. Nwosu recommended side income development and emergency savings, even if minimal.
The experiences of civil servants in Abuja highlight a widening gap between income and cost of living in Nigeria’s urban centers. Without urgent reforms in wages, debt management, and financial education, many workers risk deeper cycles of poverty in spite of full-time public service employment.