Panic as FG move to cut civil servants’ salaries, merge agencies

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has said President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the salaries committee to review payroll and review the number of agencies.

The government will also remove some unnecessary items from the budget as a move to cut the cost of governance in the country.

Zainab disclosed this at the ongoing ‘National Policy Dialogue on Corruption and Cost of Governance in Nigeria’ held in Abuja on Tuesday.

The programme was organised by the Independent Corrupt Practice Commission.

The government had approved a N13.88 trillion budget with a deficit of over N5.6 trillion.

The government projected a revenue of N7.98 trillion to fund part of the 2021 budget.

“We still see government expenditure increase to a terrain twice higher than our revenue,” Ahmed said.

The minister said all agencies must come together to trim its cost amid the country’s dwindling revenue.

She said, “We need to work together, all agencies of the government to cut down our cost. We need to cut down unnecessary expenditures. Expenditures that we can do without.

“Our budgets are filled year in year out with projects that we see over and over again and also projects that are 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 pay rolls in terms of stepping down on cost.”

The Chairman of the ICPC, Bolaji Owasanoye, noted during the stakeholders meeting that the cost of governance is the “driver of corruption in Nigeria.”

He said the government has committed to improving the country’s revenue from new and existing sources.

Owasanoye said the government’s commitment to streamline payroll, removal of subsidies and reduction of the cost of contracts and procurement are all for the benefits of the “poor and vulnerable.”

He said a critical area of concern was “payroll padding” and the “phenomenon  of ghost workers.”

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