Senate exposes Nigerian minting company's $14 billion illegal salary raise

The Senate has queried the Board of Directors, Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, NSPMC Plc, for raising all its employees' pay by N14 billion without getting permission from the National Salaries Wages, Incomes and Wages Commission.

The matter was brought to the attention of the Senate Public Accounts Committee Chairman, Senator Ahmed Wadada, at a meeting in the Red Chamber in Abuja.

The management of NSPMC had been before the committee to discuss the 2019 report that the Auditor-General of the Federation had submitted.

Appropriate authorities were not sought

The report shows that the NSPMC Board of Directors authorised N14 billion in salary and benefits between 2016 and 2019 without seeking clearance from the authority that oversees salaries and wages, according to the BusinessDay report.

The commission is mandated by the NSIWC Act, 199,0, to advise the federal government on matters of national income policy and to suggest the percentages of income growth that should be allocated to general wage increases.

The NSIWC also, among other things, suggests principles that should be followed when limiting salary increases and notifying the Federal Government of emerging and present wage patterns.

The Managing Director of NSPMC, Ahmed Halilu, asserted that since the company was incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, it did not require clearance from the salaries and wages governing authority.

However, the managing director later acknowledged before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts that the action was wrong.

Halilu further said: It has come to our notice that we must obtain approval before salaries increase.

It is salaries paid over three years. On this ground, it was not misappropriated considering the volume of works done by thousands of staff over this period.

Many committee members expressed their displeasure with the illicit payment, citing the lack of due process in the use of public monies.

The Senate's deputy whip, Nwebonyi Onyeka, clarified that government funds were disbursed without following the proper procedures and suggested that the embezzled funds be returned.

Legit.ng had reported that tension is rising in the financial system as the administration of President Bola Tinubu resolves to bring to book those found culpable in the past nine years at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Recall that the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested the former boss of Nigerian printing and minting, Abbas Umar Masanawa.