The President Muhammadu Buhari government is set to slash the salaries of civil servants in the country.
The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed said that President Buhari had directed the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission to reduce the salaries of workers and employees of several agencies to save costs.
She said this was to help the government reduce the high cost of governance.
Ahmed said this on Tuesday when she spoke at a policy dialogue on corruption and cost of governance in Nigeria organized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, in Abuja.
The Minister, therefore, called on the federal government agencies to work towards cutting down costs, adding that the administration plans to remove certain items from the budget to reduce the cost of governance.
She said, “We still see government expenditure increase to a terrain twice higher than our revenue.
“The nation’s budgets are filled every year with projects that are recycled over and over again and are also not necessary.
“Mr. President has directed that the salaries committee that I chair work together with the head of the service and other members of the committee to review the government payrolls in terms of cutting down on cost,’’ said the Minister.
