FG Saves N20bn on Monthly Wage Bill, N15bn Drop in Overhead

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja
The federal government disclosed on Tuesday that the monthly wage bill
of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) has declined by N20
billion from N165 billion to about N145 billion due to the activities
of the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit.
There has also been a reduction in the MDAs’ overhead expenses by
about N15 billion since the establishment of the Efficiency Unit
(E-UNIT) by the Federal Ministry of Finance November last year.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Dr. Mahmoud Isa-Dutse,
and the Head of the E-UNIT, Ms. Patience Oniha, made the disclosures in
an interview with journalists on the sidelines of a workshop
on cost management for directors of federal MDAs.
The Permanent Secretarry who stood in for the minister said the
workshop was aimed at helping government manage resources more
prudently, adding that since revenue had plummeted, it was imperative
not only to look at other ways of generating more resources but how to
efficiently manage same.
He pointed out that costs are relatively high even as he pointed out
that “we need to manage them” by laying emphasis on priority areas.
Asked to comment on what the federal government’s cost cutting
measures had yielded so far, the Perm Sec said the ongoing continuous
audit under the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit had
reduced personnel cost by about N20 billion from N165 billion monthly
to about N145 billion currently.