From
outright cut in the number of political appointees to reduction in
their salaries and allowances and reforms of internally generated
revenue system, state governors have adopted various measures to cut the
cost of governance.
The economic recession, brought about by the drastic fall in the
price of crude oil, seems to have succeeded in imposing the long sought
fiscal discipline on state governors, according to investigation
conducted by The Nation across the country.
At the last count, as many as 27 of the states are said to be finding it difficult to pay the monthly salary of civil servants.
It took Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State almost one year to
constitute his cabinet after winning re-election last year, just to save
money.
He only picked his media team and waited until he felt the treasury could absorb the emoluments of the cabinet members.
Besides, the governor slashed the number of ministries from 23 to 13.
The implication is fewer commissioners, special advisers and assistants.
The state government also decided to use public private partnership (PPP) in the execution of some of its projects.
These include the Lakeside Estate at Elenusonso, which is in
partnership with HCP Architectire and Engineering Nig. Ltd and Olive
Court at Agodi GRA, which was built by UAC Nigeria.
The PPP is in use for refuse collection and disposal in the capital city.
Similarly government embarked on the verification, authentication and
certification of the workforce to block loopholes in the wage bill,
Information, Culture and Tourism Commissioner Toye Arulogun said.
Overseas training for the work force was also stopped while
subvention to the state-owned tertiary institutions was cut by 75 per
cent.
The Abia State government is not adding to its pool of official
vehicles for now, leaving many political appointees and aides without
official vehicles.
The salary and allowances of the governor, deputy governor and other political office holders were reduced by half.
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s chief spokesman, Enyinnaya Appolos, said
his principal “foresaw what is happening now months back which made him
to cut his salary and his travelling allowance by 50 per cent, including
those of his appointees.”
The state government saw in the commercial city of Aba a potential
cash cow and is investing there as part of the effort to boost
internally generated revenue.
Appolos said: “This position made the governor to say that he was going to live in
Aba for six months to help in fast tracking the development of that
city, but he ended up living there for over a year with development
structures springing up there”.
“Abia has a wage bill of over N2 billion and we get less than that. So
people should ask how we have been able to move the state forward in
the infrastructure sector.
“Most of the road constructions we are doing have been done with an
understanding with the contractors on how they are going to be paid
whenever the funds are available, and we have been keeping to that
bargain, which is why the construction sites are working.”
Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State is also credited with
foreseeing the recession and prepared for it in his own way, according
to his Senior Special Adviser on Media, Mr. James Eze Anambra.
Eze said before the recession, the governor organised two retreats
where experts predicted the oil price crash and advised the government
to adopt cost saving measures immediately.
It consequently adopted the slogan ‘Doing more with less’.
“You can see that Obiano envisaged it, plugging the loopholes in the
state, fishing out 800 ghost workers and also, it led to the
prioritisation of projects government wanted to execute because of the
lean resources,” Eze said.
The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) system was restructured to
make for efficiency in revenue collection,while overseas travels were
drastically reduced.
Eze cited himself as an example of the prudence of the government.
“I do not have an official vehicle. I share a vehicle with the
protocol staff and at times security men. But the previous
administrations gave official vehicles to people in my position” Eze
said.
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State reduced the number of ministries
from 17 to 13, Special Advisers from 28 to 20, and special assistants
from 500 to 150.
He has also reduced his travel allowances and those of his deputy.
The governor’s Special Adviser on Media and ICT, Tahav Agerzua, said
the governor also involves labour leaders in disbursement of funds and
has deployed ICT and other forms of technology to reduce expenditure .
The Ganduje administration in Kano State,according to Information
Commission Muhammad Garba, has embarked on the radical reform of the
state Internally Revenue Generated Revenue Board, in addition to cutting
the salary of political appointees by 50 per cent, down-sizing the
number of ministries and parastatals, as well as ensuring prudent
management of resources.
“We looked at what was going on in the Civil Service in terms of
curbing the menace of ghost workers. This idea paid off because we were
able to discover over 7, 629 ghost workers on the payroll of the state
government; and we were able to save over N283, 580, 848.44 monthly,”
Garba said.
On internally generated revenue,he said: “for us in Kano state, our
projection for 2016 budget, when we had our retreat was to generate from
N4 to N10 Billion Naira monthly.
“When we came in, what we met on ground in respect of IGR by the
immediate-past administration was between N650 to N700 million per
month; but we have been able to increase it gradually to about N1.5
billion. This is as a result of the re-organisation of the Kano state
Board of Internal Revenue.
“The Board of Internally Generated Revenue is now independent as part
of the reforms. These guys are now generating between N2.2 to N2.5
billion per month, and every month, we are seeing an increment in
millions of naira.”
The situation differs slightly in Ebonyi State where Governor David
Umahi staggers payment for services rendered to the state over a period
of time.
“Prudence and careful planning have become the watchword in this administration,” Chief Press Secretary Emma Anya told The Nation.
“When government awards a contract, the contractor will be paid per
the kilometres he completes. This way the payment is staggered and it is
not too cumbersome for the state government to handle.
“Same thing is being done in respect of purchase of heavy equipment
used in the works ministery and also for cars being bought for
commissioners, House of Assembly members and other aides.
“The state government has also adopted direct labour in road
construction. This way you go to the market and buy at the market price
the materials needed to do such works and that saves a lot of money.
“The engineers and other workers working on such projects are in the
employ of the ministry of works and earn their monthly salary and get
little additional allowances.”
“This way, the cost of construction is reduced and the money saved is used for other pressing matters”
Anya said government has also been able to plug loopholes which some
unscrupulous civil servants and other government officials were
exploiting to steal public funds.
The Chief press Secretary said the governor’s fiscal policies are
paying off as the state is witnessing unprecedented development despite
the economic recession the country is going through.
The Cross River State government’s approach is to create employment opportunities for as many people as possible.
Thus, it has established the Calabar Garment Factory which employs
mainly women, particularly widows and other vulnerable persons .
Governor Ben Ayade said the idea was to rely less on allocation from the federal government.
“As a government, we must at all levels, take necessary actions to
stem the situation if we must avoid the catastrophe of other challenges
that may arise from the unemployment situation,” he said.
Other projects are the new deep seaport, the 260km superhighway and the rice city.
Also speaking, Commerce and Investment Commisioner, Peter Egba, said,
“If you check what is happening in the world today, especially for
nations that have oil as their major foreign exchange earner like
Nigeria, you’ll discover that the price of the product is going south by
the day and therefore we cannot continue to rely on it else our economy
would suffer.
“ And because of that, in Cross River, as soon as this administration
came on board, we saw that as a challenge and think outside the box.
And thinking outside the box, the government of Prof Ben Ayade decided
to go into massive industrialization of the state.”
“The garment factory is enough to generate the revenue to take this
state out of the woods, when it is completed. With this, you see we have
a departure already from the federal allocation.”
Interestingly, the governor who already has over 800 aides, plans to
appoint more. This, according to him, is to ensure money is shared to as
many people as possible to check poverty.
His words: “Everyday in my life I only think about the salaries of my
people. That is all I do. If that is all I can achieve, let me achieve
that.
“In my own inauguration, I said no person should go to bed on an
empty stomach, so that is why I focus on salary. That small
insignificant salary despite our allocation seeps down to the
grassroots.”
The Kwara State Government prefers to adopt zero budgeting as its own
strategy to and the aim is to cut the cost of governance by 40 percent.
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications to Governor
Abdulfatah Ahmed, Dr Muyideen Akorede said that consequently, government
has placed restriction on the number of political appointees compared
to Governor Ahmed’s first tenure.
He said: “None of the parastatals in the state has a board yet. The
state governor has also limited foreign travels to cut cost. A reform of
revenue collection under the new Kwara state Internal Revenue Service
(KW-IRS) has led to 300 percent IGR increase.
“This has led to the creation of the innovative Kwara state
Infrastructure Development Fund (IF-K) which is funded from IGR without
reliance on federation account.
“The state government has equally cancelled sponsorship pilgrims to
Mecca and Jerusalem; ditto distribution of rams at Ileya festivals.”
The Osun State Government on Thursday introduced Economic Development Levy (EDL), to be paid by business owners.
Mr Dayo Oyebamiji, Acting Chairman, Osun Internal Revenue Service
(OIRS), told reporters in Osogbo that the EDL was introduced by the
Federal Government last year, permitting all the states across the
federation to increase their Internally Generated Revenue as part of the
efforts to find lasting solution to the current economic meltdown.
He said the state officially launched the level programme on Wednesday to expand its revenue base.
He said the agency had recruited well-trained officers that would be
moving round the state with Point of Sales (PoS), machines to fast track
quick collection of levies so as to curb multiple and unlawful levy
payment.
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State slashed the salary of
political appointees by 30 per cent and minimized official trips.
There are no longer elaborate government functions. All such are now low key.
The use of local contents for projects is actively encouraged to keep as many youths as possible engaged.
Like Governors Obiano of Anambra State and Ikpeazu of Abia ,Governor
Kashim Shettima of Borno State is also said to have anticipated the fall
in the oil price and prepared for it.
His Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Mallam Isa Gusau
said: “Gov. Shettima has already saved enough, planned and anticipated
it. So it did not come as a surprise to him.”
He said government currently saves between N500 and N600 million in a month following its war on ghost workers..
Gusau also said government has zero tolerance for unnecessary trips.
He said:”Gov. Shettima’s has never embarked on any frivolous trip.
Most of his travels are strategic and are aimed at bringing benefits to
the state. Gov. Shetimma has at no time travelling out to go and rest.
“If it is rest, Shettima has more time to rest in Maiduguri than
Abuja or any other place because he controls the environment here. But
he cannot control that when he is outside the state.”
In neighbouring Yobe State, Abdullahi Bego, Director of Press and
Information Affairs to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam said that apart from
reducing the number of ministries and commissioners, budgetary spending
has been slashed by as much as 50 per cent.
His words: “Yobe is one of the hardest hit states by the economic
recession because recession set in as Boko Haram was easing out after
devastating the state for nearly five years.
“Boko Haram had wrought so much destruction and the state government
had to devote a lot of resources to rebuild and help victims recover.
“To cope with the recession, therefore, the Yobe State Government had
to adopt a number of cost cutting and other proactive measures to
balance its finances and ensure that it keeps afloat.
“First, the number of ministries was reduced from 21 to 15, saving
several millions of naira in salaries and allowances to commissioners
and other political appointees. The measure also ensured that projects
and programmes and prioritised and those not needed or duplicative are
excised.
“Second, the State Government had also put on hold several political
appointments, including those of over 200 senior special assistants and
special assistants to the governor. The number of special advisers to
the governor was also pegged at 10 even though the state assembly had
given clearance for the appointment of 15. All of this had saved the
state over N250 million annually in salaries and allowances.
“The State Government, to cope with the recession, had also cut down
on unnecessary expenditure in order to allocate resources more sensibly
to areas where they are most needed.
“Running costs of ministries, departments and agencies were also
slashed by 50 percent on a monthly basis. This is not only designed to
save money but also to ensure that MDAs can function effectively by
using resources with much more circumspection.
In Bauchi State,Governor Mohammed Abubakar reduced the number of ministries from 24 to 16.
To run them are 16 commissioners and 18 permanent secretaries.
The govenor’s spokesman, Mallam Abubakar Sadiq said political aides
are no more than 100 compared to the over 2000 in the last dispensation.
“Apart from members of the State House of Assembly for whom the
government bought new,all other government officials are using old cars
retrieved from operatives of the last administration headed by then
Gov.Isa Yuguda,” he said.
“Local government chairmen and their councillors will now be paid
their salaries from the revenue they will internally generate.That is
not all,as a result of the economic recession,Bauchi state government is
diligently pursuing vigorously the Verification exercise,to save cost
from the ghost workers and this exercise has started yielding good
results”
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