Contrary to earlier reports, the Federal Government has said it is not thinking of cutting wages, but rather mulling salary harmonisation.
This is against the backdrop of the fact that there are some government agencies paying much higher than others, for staff on the same grade level. Therefore, according to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the government is seeking more pay parity.
Mrs. Ahmed, who disclosed this at the ‘National Policy Dialogue on Corruption and Cost of Governance in Nigeria’, organised by the Independent Corrupt Practice Commission, (ICPC), in Abuja on Tuesday, said that the President had directed the Salaries Committee to review payroll and also review the number of agencies. “With this re-adjustment, when finally done, workers in the public service will earn a fair and equitable wage”, she said.
Recall that the Federal Government had approved a N13.88 trillion Budget with a deficit of over N5.6trillion, and projected revenue of N7.98trillion to fund part of the 2021 Budget.
The Minister posited that all agencies must come together to trim their costs, given Nigeria’s dwindling revenue. According to her, the government would also remove some unnecessary items from the budget as a move to cut the cost of governance in the country.
Ahmed also disclosed that for agencies with the same mandate, the government would look at merging the two.
The Chairman of ICPC, Bolaji Owasanoye, during the stakeholders meeting, noted that the cost of governance is the “driver of corruption in Nigeria”, adding that the government had committed to improving the country’s revenue from new and existing sources.
Owasanoye said that 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, adding that a critical area of concern was he called ‘payroll padding’ and the ‘phenomenon of ghost workers’.
