Nigeria's
Officialdom and Public Expenditure Waste
By
Mobolaji
E. Aluko
alukome@aol.com
Burtonsville, MD, USA
Monday, December 22, 2003
The Guardian
Sunday, December 21, 2003
40 Per Cent Federal Workers
May Lose Job
Directors Write Exams To Determine Suitability
FROM MARTINS OLOJA (Abuja Bureau Chief)
PALPABLE fear reigns in Abuja among civil servants as the Minister of
Finance, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has confirmed presidential
mandate to retrench up to 40 per cent of federal civil servants.
Okonjo-Iweala took the sensitisation of government reforms to the
doorsteps of the potential victims last week when she addressed federal
directors, deputy directors and assistant directors at the opening
session of a three-day compulsory retreat that culminated in mandatory
examinations for the directors.
The retreat, which began for officers of directorate levels from
Thursday 11 to Saturday 13, December, 2003 was co-ordinated by the
office of the Permanent Secretary, Public Service Office (PSO) of the
office of the Head of Service.
The Guardian gathered that even officers who were on annual leave and
leave of absence were recalled to participate in the three-day exercise
at the Centre for Women Development, Abuja.
Though the press was not involved in the exercise, it was confirmed that
Thursday the Finance Minister was invited to talk to the bureaucrats at
the opening session. And during her presentation, the essence of the
retreat became apparent to the participants, a source noted at the
weekend.
According to the source, the top bureaucrats watched in awe as the
Minister made power-point presentation of statistical data of
government's revenue and expenditure profiles.
The profiles showed why government could not continue to spend about 80
per cent of its total revenue on about one per cent of the population in
the civil service.
The Minister, who dropped the hint of what she called "right sizing" of
the federal workforce to The Guardian in a recent interview, reportedly
told the retreat participants point blank that about 40 per cent of the
federal workforce would have to go in the public interest.
She said the "right sizing" would cut across all the strata of the
public service.
The Guardian learnt that last Friday's movement of 25 permanent
secretaries and 68 directors was part of the agenda to prepare the civil
service for reforms including compilation of names of those to be
retrenched.
Five retired permanent secretaries are said to be part of the consortium
of consultants to the government on the reform package. They include
Chief Fortunatus O. Williams, who retired in 2001 from FCT; Chief P.
Nwokedi, who retired as Permanent Secretary, Finance Ministry in 2001;
Dr. Adamu Fika, who retired with the Williams' generation.
Also noticed at the Retreat was Mr. R. Akabueze, former Auditor-General
of the Federation
The Finance Minister had earlier set the tone for the bad news for civil
servants three weeks ago. She had informed officers of her ministry and
the extra-ministerial departments, including office of the Accountant
General of the Federation (AGF), that she had the mandate of the
President to "right size" the federal workers to the tune of 40 per
cent.
It was further learnt that public officers who were sceptical about the
seriousness attached to the reform were stunned on Saturday, December
13, when they were made to sit for tough examinations on public service
issues.
The result of the tests, according to sources, "will determine mental
fitness and suitability of the officers for public office in the new
dispensation."
Sources close to the Economic Team of the President revealed that the
Federal Executive Council was confounded recently when the team turned
in figures for monetisation benefits of mainstream civil servants.
Going by the figures made available to The Guardian, while National
Assembly officers would require about N5 billion judicial officers would
need N7 billion, to settle the largesse.
And while public servants including the President's men and political
appointees would require just about N450 million, mainstream civil
servants require a princely N200 billion for the monetisation benefits.
Apart from the public servants' remunerations, the Obasanjo government
is reportedly desperate to reform the public sector in order to cut cost
of running government.
Specifically, the Finance Minister, Okonjo-Iweala, the arrowhead of the
public sector reforms, will revisit Estacode allowances for top officers
on duty tour abroad very soon.
At the moment, Minister/SGF/Head of Service draw $400 per night,
Permanent Secretary $360 per night, officers on GL 16 and 17 $340 per
night; and those on GL 14 and 15 $305 per night.
Officers on GL 10-13 $245 per night; officers on GL 07-09 ($205);
officers on GL 01-06 US$ (165).
These figures are contained in Chapter 16 Rule 1602 of the Revised
Public Service Rules.
The Guardian also learnt that the top officers' Estacode allowances may
be affected by the current reform just as the protocol arrangement for
public officers may also be reviewed.
Diplomatic sources confirmed recently that the Minister of Finance, who
led a team to meet creditor nations in London shortly after the
Ministers' Retreat in Abuja, was told that Nigeria must do something
about its lifestyle as a debtor nation if it must ask for sympathy.
The creditors, led by Britain, informed Okonjo-Iweala and her team,
including FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, that the British
Government accommodates and provides vehicles (two items) to only the
Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer resident at 10 and
12, Downing Street, London.
The Nigerian delegates were also told that the "Estacode allowance of
Nigeria is about one of the highest in the world especially in a country
(Nigeria) where officers travel anyhow for weeks and months. Once you
reduce Estacode and place limitation on number of days, the propensity
to jet out anyhow will also reduce."
Besides, the creditors reportedly urged the Nigerian delegates to
examine the profile of public officers including the number of protocol
vehicles accompanying the President, Vice President, Senate President,
the Speaker, Governors, among others.
They (creditors) wondered what the officers do with about 50 vehicles in
the convoy of public officers in a debtor nation with low income, the
diplomatic sources said.
"The creditors especially Britain told the Nigerian delegates that
unless Nigerians reform their lifestyle to reflect moderation and waste
control, the British Government would not be able to present before the
Parliament that they want to forgive Nigeria her debt to Britain," the
sources added.
The (creditors) also cited the examples of some Nigerian public
officers, who are known to have driven up property rates in the United
Kingdom because they bought up some streets in cash and their records
are in the Deeds Registry.
"How can we explain that, in our Appropriation Bill to the Parliament,"
they asked the Nigerian delegates to London creditor-debtor parley.
_____________________________________________________________________
Excerpt:
QUOTE
According to the source, the top
bureaucrats watched in awe as the Minister made power-point presentation
of statistical data of government's revenue and expenditure profiles.
The profiles showed why government could not continue to spend
about 80 per cent of its total revenue on about one per cent of the
population in the civil service............
Apart from the public servants'
remunerations, the Obasanjo government is reportedly desperate to reform
the public sector in order to cut cost of running government.
Specifically, the Finance Minister, Okonjo-Iweala, the arrowhead of the
public sector reforms, will revisit Estacode allowances for top officers
on duty tour abroad very soon.
At the moment, Minister/SGF/Head
of Service draw $400 per night, Permanent Secretary $360 per night,
officers on GL 16 and 17 $340 per night; and those on GL 14 and 15 $305
per night. Officers on GL 10-13 $245 per night; officers on GL 07-09
($205); officers on GL 01-06 US$ (165).
These figures are contained in Chapter
16 Rule 1602 of the Revised Public Service Rules.
The Guardian also learnt that the top
officers' Estacode allowances may be affected by the current reform just
as the protocol arrangement for public officers may also be reviewed.
Diplomatic sources confirmed recently
that the Minister of Finance, who led a team to meet creditor nations in
London shortly after the Ministers' Retreat in Abuja, was told that
Nigeria must do something about its lifestyle as a debtor nation if it
must ask for sympathy.
The creditors, led by Britain, informed
Okonjo-Iweala and her team, including FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir
el-Rufai, that the British Government accommodates and provides vehicles
(two items) to only the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the
Exchequer resident at 10 and 12, Downing Street, London.
The Nigerian delegates were also told
that the "Estacode allowance of Nigeria is about one of the
highest in the world especially in a country (Nigeria) where officers
travel anyhow for weeks and months. Once you reduce Estacode and place
limitation on number of days, the propensity to jet out anyhow will also
reduce."
Besides, the creditors reportedly urged
the Nigerian delegates to examine the profile of public officers
including the number of protocol vehicles accompanying the President,
Vice President, Senate President, the Speaker, Governors, among others.
They (creditors) wondered what the
officers do with about 50 vehicles in the convoy of public officers in a
debtor nation with low income, the diplomatic sources said.
"The creditors especially Britain told
the Nigerian delegates that unless Nigerians reform their lifestyle to
reflect moderation and waste control, the British Government would not
be able to present before the Parliament that they want to forgive
Nigeria her debt to Britain," the sources added.
The (creditors) also cited the
examples of some Nigerian public officers, who are known to have driven
up property rates in the United Kingdom because they bought up some
streets in cash and their records are in the Deeds Registry.
"How can we explain that, in our
Appropriation Bill to the Parliament," they asked the Nigerian delegates
to London creditor-debtor parley.
UNQUOTE
ALUKO COMMENTARY
The issue of unconscionable use of the
overwhelming majority of public funds for a very tiny minority of public
servants has been one of the open secrets and banes of Nigeria's
political life. The injustice of "monkey dey work, baboon dey chop,"
which has been institutionalized over the years, is now happily being
brought to the forefront, and pressure to correct it must be continued.
There is no other area in which that
unconscionable use is apparent than in Estacodes provided to public
officers. The high values quoted above confirm once and for all the
constant (and oft-ignored) campaign by economist Prof. Sam Aluko against
this particular crime against Nigeria's humanity. Just imagine what
happens when a 40-person delegation including 5 ministers, each with a
retinue of 7 GL-9 to GL 16 (average GL-12-and-a-half) officers each
goes to Paris for a 7-day meeting, with the ministers traveling in
First-Class, the others on average Business Class, etc. A
back-of-the-envelope calculation easily puts travel, accommodation and
Estacode at $261,775.00 . Multiplying that by N140 puts the total at
N36,648,500.
Just for 7 days! I bet that we do that
Jamboree at least three times in a year. Certainly the President
himself does at least half that number of total people 12 times in a
year! (Hmmm....)
Just imagine a Grade One salary earner
(current minimum wage N7,500) going abroad "on a government mission"
JUST FOR ONE DAY earning an estacode of $165 or N23,100 - more than
three times her monthly salary! For just 7 days, will earn her just
under two years of her salary! Does that make sense? What will she (or
he) not do to get into that plane and go to Paris?
This must stop.
Finally, who are these "cited.......Nigerian
public officers, who are known to have driven up property rates in the
United Kingdom because they bought up some streets in cash and their
records are in the Deeds Registry ?" We are not talking about
industrialists and family-money inheritors: this is about public
officers! Don't they have names, addresses and phone
numbers? Can't ICPC be asked to get them to explain how they came about
these resources that are recorded in British and American and French and
German and Swiss" Deeds Registries?
Inquiring minds want to know all of
these things.
Finally, there really will be be NO
NEED to fire ANYBODY in the civil service if some of these financially
prudent steps are exercised. A 1% civil service population is NOT LARGE
as governments of the world go: it is our REMUNERATIONS and ALLOWANCES
and non-tight FINANCIAL CONTROLS that make our recurrent expenditures
expensive.
Anyway, kudos to the Finance Minister
for highlighting some of these long-standing problems. Maybe, just
maybe, this woman Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (along with that other woman in
Due Process, Oby Ezekwesili) will get us somewhere, and save us
beaucoup de money.
Just maybe - if we men will let them
survive.
Compliments of the season to everyone.
Bolaji Aluko
