The Presidency has revealed how President Muhammadu Buhari saved Nigeria of a whooping N13billion monthly fraud in 2016.
Buhari saved Nigeria from N200bn fraud
According to senior special assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu. the Efficiency Unit of the Federal Ministry of Finance created by the present administration was able to uncover the 50,000 ghost workers and saved the nation of N13bn monthly during the year.
He said 11 persons believed to be members of a syndicate responsible for the presence of 50,000 ghost workers on the Federal Government’s payroll had been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for further investigation and prosecution.
“The flagship programme of the Muhammadu Buhari administration to rid the system of fraud and instill good governance is on course.
“Through a notable initiative, the Efficiency Unit of the Federal Ministry of Finance, the government has embarked on the continuous auditing of the salaries and wages of government departments.
“When the committee was constituted in February 2016, the Federal Government’s monthly salary bill was N151bn excluding pensions.
“Now, the monthly salary warrant is N138bn, excluding pensions, which means that the government is making a monthly saving of about N13bn. That is from February 2016 to date.”
Shehu added that the pension bill which was N15.5bn monthly as of February had been reduced to N14.4bn.
He said the government was making an average monthly saving of about N1.1bn on the pension bill.
Shehu also allayed the fears of many members of the ruling All Progressives Congress concerning board appointments.
“You know that the reconstitution began methodically, from sector to sector. You should expect that to resume at the beginning of the New Year. The President has given directions on what to do.”
On the agricultural programmes of the administration, Shehu said the President’s persistent call for a return to farming was yielding good results.
“The talk about agriculture has driven people to the farm. This year, there is a huge boom in the rural economy. We have witnessed an excellent harvest. Farmers are getting value for their output.
“What has encouraged the farmers the more is the increasing availability of extension services. New farming techniques are helping farmers to do their occupation better.”
