Presidency says 428 agencies can't pay November salaries

The federal government has said that no fewer than 428 agencies would not be able to pay salaries by the end of November.

Daily Trust reports that this was disclosed by the director-general of the budget office, Ben Akabueze, on Tuesday, November 10, when he appeared before the Senate committee on the public account.

Legit.ng gathered that he said the 2019 budget had been prepared before the federal government announced a new minimum wage regime.

The presidential aide noted that the government was considering releasing funds from the Service Wide Vote to cater for the shortfall in the civil servants' salaries for the month of November.

The director-general of the budget office, Ben Akabueze, says the new minimum wage caused the delay in payment of salaries.

He said: “About 428 agencies will not be able to pay salaries by the end of November. We may need to take from the Service Wide Vote to take care of the shortfall in the workers' salaries.”

In his reaction, the chairman of the committee, Senator Mathew Urhoghide, accused the executive of deliberately underfunding the office of Auditor-General of the Federation.

Urhoghide expressed surprise that an agency set up to fight institutional corruption was under-funded by the executive while other agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the federal government explained why there was a delay in payment of October salary to some civil servants.

It was reported that while speaking on the current situation on Monday, November 2, the head of the civil service of the federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan, attributed the delay to the conclusion of negotiation on the new minimum wage and its adjustment.

Yemi-Esan in a statement said that the 2020 budget was passed before the new minimum wage was finalized as she added that the necessary steps have been taken to resolve the matter.

In another report, Governor Kayode Fayemi-led government in Ekiti state uncovered the payment of N20 million monthly as salary for 362 ghost workers in local governments.

The commissioner for local government and community development, Prof. Adio Folayan, disclosed this while presenting a state staff verification committee report to Governor Fayemi in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday, November 3.