The Federal government says that as part of measures to cut the cost of governance in the country, it has directed the National Salaries, Incomes & Wages Commission (NSIWC) to review salaries of civil servants and some federal agencies.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this at a policy dialogue on corruption and cost of governance in Nigeria, organized by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) in Abuja on Tuesday, May 4.
She urged all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) of government to come together to trim the cost of governance amid dwindling revenue.
“We still see government expenditure increase to a terrain twice higher than our revenue. The nation’s budgets are filled every year with projects that are recycled over and over again and are also not necessary.
Mr President has directed that the salaries committee that I chair, work together with the Head of Service and other members of the committee to review the government payrolls in terms of stepping down on cost”he said.,
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has denied withholding funds appropriated for the Nigerian Army.
The Ministry which stated that the funds were released at the right time, said N1trn had been released for the Nigerian Army from 2019 till April 2021.
Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed made the disclosure during an interactive session with members of the Senate Committee on Army chaired by Senator Ali Ndume.
Ahmed also revealed that apart from funding the budget of the army almost 100 per cent, there had been a lot of instances where the security service went to the president, got special approvals and still got the funds.
Giving a breakdown of the money disbursed to the Nigerian army between 2019 and April 2021, the Minister said N129.69bn was for capital; N39.76bn, overhead; N681.79bn, personnel and N157.6bn, special releases.
Ahmed added;
“So perhaps what we’re providing is not enough, but the fact is we provide what’s budgeted and we provide what’s approved.”
