The Federal Government (FG) has directed all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to stop implementing salary, allowance, and fringe benefit increases without its approval.
The warning was issued by Ekpo Nta, chairman of the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC), during a two-day training workshop for salary inspectors in Abuja.
The training was organized in preparation for the implementation of the second phase of the 2022 salary inspection program.
Nta stated at the conference that over the years, the commission discovered through salary inspection programs that some agencies were implementing unapproved salaries, allowances, and fringe benefits.
“I want to unambiguously state that even where the establishment acts of any fully-funded, partially-funded, and self-funded federal agencies allow its board to determine its remuneration, it can only do so after statutory input in line with section 3 (1) of the NSIWC Act 1999,” he said.
“This is irrespective of whether their establishment act predates 1993 or not. They are bound by our act in the same way and manner, the Public Procurement Act 2007, the ICPC Act 2000, Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, and so on, upon enactment.
“Whether pre-dating or post-dating their establishment acts, apply to all federal government agencies.”
According to the NSIWC chairman, the federal government issued two circulars signed by the secretary to the government of the federation, instructing all MDAs to refrain from implementing any increase without the agency’s input.
He added that the circular also required MDAs to notify the NSIWC of any government approvals they received.
“The country will not accept fiscal indiscipline where the personnel budget and non-regular allowances of the overhead budgets for public service employees are not controlled and spiral out of control without a corresponding increase in productivity, especially in self-funded institutions,” Nta said.
“This can be attributed to unregulated recruitment, implementation of the national minimum wage etc.”
Nta also stated that the commission saved the government over N400 billion per year by conducting inspections and other activities that would otherwise have been abused, wasted, or misappropriated.
This year’s program, he said, would cover agencies that had received approval to implement new salaries, allowances, and fringe benefits within the previous six months.
According to the NSIWC chief, the MDAs include the ministries of industry, trade, and investment, as well as the ministries of mines and steel development, and their parastatals.
Nta urged the salary inspectors to arm themselves during the workshop, go into the field, and conduct the inspection with zeal and zero tolerance for compromise.
He warned that any inspector found breaking established rules and regulations would face appropriate punishment for criminal breach of trust or unethical behavior.
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