.Assures prompt payment of promotion arrears

By Emmanuel Elebeke

The Federal Government says it has saved over N37 billion from misapplications, paddings, mistakes and non-compliance by MDAs to the agreed template.

Mr Ahmed Idris

The Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Ahmed Idris, disclosed this when he hosted the National Executive of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja.

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He reassured civil servants in the Country of the commitment of Office of the Accountant–General of the Federation, to the continued payment of promotion arrears owed Federal civil servants in line with Mr President’s directives.

The Nation’s Treasurer revealed that following Mr President’s directive that N10 billion be set aside monthly, commencing from May 2017 to offset backlog of Promotion Arrears, that an in-house committee had been inaugurated by the OAGF  to verify MDAs’ claims and submissions.

So far, he said the committee has paid out the sum of N42 billion, out of the N55 billion released, leaving an outstanding of N13 billion in cash, while a total of N35 billion is yet to be released to the office.

The AGF further promised that he will bring the concerns of the association to the notice of the Minister of Finance and will also dialogue with the Director-General  Budget Office, to ensure that Government continues to keep its part of the agreement reached with the association in order to ensure industrial harmony.

He commended the leadership of the Association of Senior Civil Servants for their understanding and support in the implementation of government plans and programmes, saying without industrial harmony no meaningful development can be achieved.

The AGF equally commended the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation’s arm of the Association for their understanding and support assuring them of his continued commitment to improving the welfare of the Staff through the implementation of the people-oriented programme.

Earlier, the National President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria,( ASCSN), represented by the National Vice President,  Comrade Bola Audu Innocent,  extolled the leadership qualities of Mr Ahmed Idris, saying he had displayed professionalism in managing the Nation’s Treasury.

“We as a Union, that Unionises Senior Staff in public service is proud of your achievements and contribution to nation building at this level,”  Audu said.

He, however, informed the AGF that their visit was necessitated by recent developments from the payment of outstanding promotion, salaries, and other arrears owed civil servants in the public service, where the association understood that concerns raised by DG Budget Office are leading to delay in the continued payment of the arrears.

Comrade Bola Audu explained that failure of the Government to continue to honour the agreement signed in May 2017, may lead to industrial unrest.