Nigerian Government broke, may slash workers’ salaries as finance minister laments
According to Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget, and Planning, most of Nigeria’s capital projects are recycled, sapping huge sums of money on a yearly basis.
She went on to say that the Nigerian government is reviewing wages, which could result in federal workers’ salaries being cut.
This, according to the minister, is one of the options for lowering the high cost of governance.
On Tuesday, Ahmed made the announcement in Abuja at a forum titled Policy Dialogue on Corruption and the Cost of Governance in Nigeria.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s national headquarters hosted the gathering.
The minister said President Muhammadu Buhari had asked the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission to review the salaries of civil servants and employees of many agencies in the country to save cost.
She, therefore, charged the agencies to work towards cutting down cost because of deteriorating revenues by the government.
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According to her, the Nigerian government plans to remove certain items from the budget to reduce the cost of governance.
She said, “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 cutting down on cost,’’ Ahmed said.
In his remarks, the ICPC chairman, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye (SAN) listed payroll padding and the saga of ghost workers and abuse of recruitment as areas of concern in governance cost.
