Economy
Financial Crisis: FG Says Workers Won’t Suffer Pay Cut
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The federal government has denied reports that workers in the federal civil service will, henceforth, get a pay cut as part of efforts to reduce the cost of governance.
It was reported that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, had disclosed on Tuesday that apart from the wage cut, the government was planning to merge some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
But in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the Minister on Media and Communications, Mr Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, it was emphasised that rather than a cut, the workers will earn more.
The Minister explained that what the national government was planning to do is to harmonise the salaries of its employees by making sure that no federal civil servant on the same grade level earn more than the other as it is being practised at the moment.
Business Post reports that employees of some agencies like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and others earn more than counterparts in other MDAs.
“What the government hopes to achieve is to redistribute wages equally across board. Let us bring our salary structure within government agencies as close or as equitable and fair.
“What we seek to achieve is to create fairness and equity and to reduce cost. With this readjustment, when finally done, workers in the public service will earn fair and equitable wages,” Mrs Ahmed said at the National Policy Dialogue on Corruption and Cost of Governance in Nigeria organised by the Independent Corrupt Practice Commission (ICPC) in Abuja.
Speaking further, she said, “We still see government expenditure increase to a terrain twice higher than our revenue.”
The government had approved a N13.88 trillion budget with a deficit of over N5.6 trillion and projected revenue of N7.98 trillion to fund part of the 2021 budget.
The Minister urged that all agencies must come together to trim their costs, given Nigeria’s dwindling revenue, noting that the government will also remove some unnecessary items from the budget as a move to cut the cost of governance in the country.
“We need to work together, all agencies of the government to cut down our cost. We need to cut down unnecessary expenditures, [especially those] we can do without. Our budgets are filled year in year out with projects that we see over and over again, and also projects that are not necessary.”
“President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that the salaries committee, which I chair, work together with the head of service (HOS) and other members of the committee to review the government payrolls considering stepping down on cost,” she said.
The Minister revealed that the government would also review the number of government agencies in terms of their mandates, adding that for agencies with the same mandate, the government would look at merging the two.
The Chairman of ICPC, Mr Bolaji Owasanoye, noted during the stakeholders meeting that the cost of governance is the “driver of corruption in Nigeria.”
He said that the government had committed to improving the country’s revenue from new and existing sources.
Mr Owasanoye said that the government’s commitment to streamline payroll, removal of subsidies and reduction of the cost of contracts and procurement is all for the benefits of the poor and vulnerable.
He also said that a critical area of concern was what he called ‘payroll padding’ and the ‘phenomenon of ghost workers.’
The ICPC boss lamented the duplication of projects such as the constituency projects of lawmakers and noted that funding for such projects was usually released without any mechanism for monitoring and evaluation and reconciliation of the funding.
He then cited a project executed by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) which was inadvertently diverted as an executive project.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
More petroleum marketers are looking to take advantage being offered by the Dangote Refinery in Lagos through its bulk-purchase incentives, allowing petrol stations to sell premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, cheaper to motorists.
Recall that recently, Dangote Refinery entered into a deal with MRS Oil Nigeria, Ardova Plc, Heyden for the purchase of petrol at least two million litres at N909 per litre.
With this agreement, MRS Oil has been able to dispense to customers at a pump price of N935 per litre across its stations in Nigeria.
For those not under this arrangement, they have been battling with price instability, especially after depot owners recently increased their price to N950 per litre from N909 per litre because of the rise in crude oil prices in the international market.
Worried by this and attracted by the bulk-purchase agreement incentives of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) is already having talks to buy directly from the Lagos-based oil facility.
The national president of the group, Mr Abubakar Maigandi Garima, said members are eager to sign on with Dangote Refinery for the bulk-purchase agreement.
He argued that members could not continue to depend on depot owners for products when they can buy directly from the refinery bearing in mind that the minimum quantity to buy from Dangote Refinery is two million litres at N909 per litre.
The desire to be part of the bulk-purchase agreement, it was also gathered, was also apparently being fuelled by the testimonies from motorists who have been praising the impressive burn rate of fuel sourced from Dangote Refinery and sold in MRS filing stations which they said lasts longer compared to other products imported into the country and sold by others.
The management of the Dangote Refinery, citing economic relief provided by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s crude-for-naira swap initiative, had announced a bulk-purchase offer incentives to the three leading downstream sector operators, so that Nigerians could heave a sigh of relief on the reduced pump price.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The World Bank has projected a 3.6 per cent economic growth for Nigerian in 2025 and 2026 on the back of ongoing reforms by the federal government.
The Bretton Wood institution in its report titled Global Economic Prospects, January 2025 published on Thursday, said recent reforms, including subsidy removal, Naira liberalisation and the introduction of tax reform bills would help to boost business confidence.
“In Nigeria, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth increased to an estimated 3.3 per cent in 2024, mainly driven by services sector activity, particularly in financial and telecommunication services.
“Macroeconomic and fiscal reforms helped improve business confidence. In response to rising inflation and a weak naira, the central bank tightened monetary policy.
“Meanwhile, the fiscal deficit narrowed due to a surge in revenues driven by the elimination of the implicit foreign exchange subsidy, following the unification of the exchange rate and improved revenue administration,” a part of the report stated.
The World Bank noted that the wider Sub-Saharan Africa, to which Nigeria belongs would see a 4.1 per cent growth in the current year, before seeing a 4.3 per cent rise in 2026.
“Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, SSA is expected to firm to 4.1 per cent in 2025 and 4.3 per cent in 2026, as financial conditions ease alongside further declines in inflation. Following weaker-than-expected regional growth last year, growth projections for 2025 have been revised upward by 0.2 percentage points, and for 2026 by 0.3 percentage points, with improvements seen across various subgroups. At the country level, projected growth has been upgraded for nearly half of SSA economies in both 2025 and 2026.
“Growth in Nigeria is forecast to strengthen to an average of 3.6 per cent a year in 2025-26. Following monetary policy tightening in 2024, inflation is projected to gradually decline, boosting consumption and supporting growth in the services sector, which continues to be the main driver of growth,” it added.
The global lender disclosed that oil production is expected to increase over the forecast period but remain below the 1.5 million barrels per day quota of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
By Adedapo Adesanya
Four price gainers helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange close higher by 0.35 per cent on Thursday, January 16.
The value of the trading platform jumped by N3.69 billion during the session to N1.072 trillion from the N1.068 trillion it closed in the preceding session, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) made an addition of 10.67 points to wrap the session at 3,103.83 points compared with 3,093.16 points recorded at the previous session.
Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc added 3 Kobo to its price yesterday to trade at 33 Kobo per unit compared with Wednesday’s closing price of 30 Kobo per unit, Newrest Asl Plc appreciated by N2.85 to N31.18 per share from N28.53 per share, 11 Plc gained N2.90 to close at N256.00 per unit versus the N253.10 per unit it finished a day earlier, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 21 Kobo to N39.16 per share, in contrast to midweek’s N38.95 per share.
On Thursday. there was an 85.3 per cent increase in the volume of securities traded by investors to 1.2 million units from the 666,494 units recorded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded surged by 8.9 per cent to N18.0 million from N16.5 million, and the number of deals leapt by 65 per cent to 33 deals from 20 deals.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 million units worth N134.9 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 8.9 million units sold for N43.0 million, and Afriland Properties Plc valued at 690,825 sold for N11.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 23.5 million units sold for N5.3 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 8.9 million units valued at N43.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc followed with 3.4 million units worth N134.9 million.
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