Govt to reduce N165bn monthly wage, pension bill
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi
Adeosun, on Thursday described as unsustainable the Federal Government’s
monthly wage and pensions bill of N165bn, saying this would be
substantially reduced after all workers had been captured on the
Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
Adeosun, who stated this at an
interactive session with members of the Newspapers Proprietors
Association of Nigeria in Lagos on Thursday, also said efforts were
being made to ensure that all monies spent by the government were
justified at all times.
The News Agency of Nigeria quoted
the minister as saying, “What this government is doing is to ensure
that every kobo we are spending is for the good of the people and is
accounted for. We are moving away from the past when there was so much
waste and people were just spending without really accounting for it.
“Whatever fund we are releasing now, we
are asking questions on what it is used for. And we are doing that
across the Ministries, Departments and Agencies. We believe that no
nation attains development with so much profligacy, and that is why we
are taking a number of steps to ensure that the country’s money actually
goes to the people.”
Adeosun said the discovery of about
40,000 ghost workers on the government’s payroll through the Bank
Verification Number and the IPPIS was a result of efforts to eliminate
waste.
She said only one person out of the
40,000 ghost workers had so far complained that his salary had been
stopped and that when he showed up, he was promptly arrested by the
police.
The minister explained, “The government
will prosecute all those involved in this scam. One of them was even
discovered to have multiple identities and was operating about 200
accounts to draw money from the government every month.
“This is the kind of loopholes we are
talking about. People were just paying salaries, no control. We are
putting a check on the system and we even now have a unit at the
ministry to monitor salaries alone.”
She said arrangements had been concluded
to capture the personnel of the Nigeria Police, adding that the
military, the prisons, railway and other agencies yet to be captured in
the IPPIS would be incorporated soon.
Adeosun described corruption as the
biggest barrier to the country’s development and gave an assurance that
the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would tackle the monster
head-on.
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