The Senate on Thursday berated the Federal Government over the continued increase in the nation’s recurrent expenditure which covers salaries and wages yearly while an embargo is still being placed on the recruitment of personnel since 2018.
Senate concern was triggered by submissions made by the Chairman of National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Mr Ekpo Nta, before the Senate Committee on Establishment.
Failure of Nta to tell the committee the total amount of salaries and wages the FG pays its workforce yearly infuriated many members of the committee who wondered why recurrent expenditure in the yearly budget is not decreasing on the account of embargo placed on employment at the various agencies and yet many personnel are retiring.
Senator Ali Ndume, in taking up the NSIWC boss, said he is supposed to know the total wage bill of the workers in order to arrest the dangerous trend of increases in the yearly recurrent expenditure component of the budget without new recruitments and even with the retirement of workers on yearly basis.
“Honestly speaking, a time bomb is ticking out there with this policy because of the doors shut out against millions of youths seeking employment.
“Making it worrisome is the fact that despite the policy since 2018 till now, recurrent expenditure components of yearly budget have been increasing.
“In 2018, it was N3.5 trillion, N4 trillion in 2019, N4.5 trillion in 2020, N5.6 trillion 2021 and N6.83trillion in the projected N16.39trillion 2022 budget.
“It is bad for recurrent expenditure to be increasing on yearly basis without an increase in the number of workforce through required recruitments.
“The embargo is turning to a time bomb that can explode at any time as witnessed in some countries in recent past.
“Personally, I’m already thinking of where to run to if the avoidable crisis is not averted. I visited Ghana and the Niger Republic recently in this regard,” Senator Ndume said.
Other members of the committee like Suleiman Kwari (APC Kaduna North), Nicholas Tofowomo (PDP Ondo South) and the Chairman of the committee, Ibrahim Shekarau (APC Kano Central) aligned themselves with Ndume’s position.
Pointedly, the chairman of the committee directed the commission chairman to liaise with the Accountant General of the Federation and other management officials of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) for required harmonization in arriving at the total amount of salaries and wages the Federal Government pays per annum.
The NSIWC boss had earlier in his presentation lamented that his agency recruited last in 2018 and that the planned extension of the year of service and retirement age for primary and secondary schools teachers will further shut the door against fresh graduates.
“The policy seems good but what happened to young graduates with teaching qualifications,” he queried.
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