FG Begins 2022 Budget Preparation As Wage Bill Set To Hit N3.88trn

The Federal Government has commenced the preparation of the 2022 budget with a directive to Ministries Departments and Agencies of government to avoid inflating their personnel budget.

Barring any last minute change in plans, the personnel cost of the Federal Government is expected to rise by N130bn from N3.75trn this year to N3.88trn next year based on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

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The government also issued a warning to Chief Executives of all it’s institutions against the introduction of ghost workers in the personnel payroll, adding that such act would not be condoned.

The warning is contained in the 2022 Personnel Budget Call Circular issued and personally signed by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning​, Mrs Zainab Ahmed.

The circular with reference BD/2000/EXP/S.651 dated May 14, 2021 was obtained by THE WHISTLER on Tuesday.

It was sent to the Chief of Staff to the President, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President, all Ministers, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, all Service Chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police.

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Others are the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, all Chairmen of Commissions, all Permanent Secretaries/Heads of Extra-Ministerial Departments, the Auditor-General for the Federation and the Accountant General of the Federation.

The document noted that it was necessary to commence the process of preparing the 2020 personnel cost budget early to enable diligent exercise.

This, it noted, would ensure adequate budgetary provisions for MDAs personnel cost as well as submission of the 2021 budget proposal to the National Assembly by September of this year.

In recent times, there had been delay in the passage and signing of the Federal Government budget due to disagreements between the executive and the National Assembly.

As a result of the power tussle between the executive and the legislature, the budget implementation had always commenced very late into the year.

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For instance, the 2011 budget was passed on March 25, 2011, while that of 2012 was passed on March 14 of that same year.

For the 2013 budget, it was passed by the lawmakers on December 20, 2012 and signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan in February 2013 while the 2014, 2015 and 2016 budgets were also signed in the month of May of each year.

The 2017 budget which was submitted to the lawmakers in December 2016 was not passed and assented to until the month of June 2017.

The 2018 budget which was designed to consolidate on the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan was presented to the National Assembly on November 7, 2017.

It was passed by the lawmakers on May 16, transmitted to Buhari on May 25 and assented by him on June 20.

The document said, “It is necessary to commence the process of preparing the 2023 personnel cost budget early to enable a diligent exercise which will ensure adequate budgetary provisions for MDAs personnel cost, as well as submission of the 2020 budget proposal to National Assembly by September 2021.”

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To guide against the insertion of extraneous items, the circular said the payroll templates for all MDAs have been prepared using applicable salary and allowances structures as approved by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.

The circular reads in part, “MDAs should note that payment of salaries and allowances are for legitimate staff only. Any unauthorized payments from personnel costs will attract appropriate sanctions.

“Therefore,you are required to validate the enclosed payroll for your sector/MDA obtained from IPPIS.

“Please note that no personnel cost provision will be made in the 2022 budget for any serving employee of the FGN who is not captured in the IPPIS, except by due authorisation.”

The document stated that MDAs are not required to provide for 2022 promotions of their staff because such promotion cannot be predicted with certainty.

However, it said the budgeted personnel cost should reflect all promotions already approved and in effect, noting that provisions for 2022 promotions will be made under Public Service Wage Adjustments in Service-wide votes.

It stated, “The pay point of officers who are posted after the conclusion of the 2022 Personnel Cost budget or transferred are to remain in the MDA where the 2022 Personnel Cost is provided. No transfer of salary is to be prepared.

“Any new hires/recruitment to be included in the payroll must be supported with all necessary documentation,including clearance by the Budget Office of the Federation for MDA to recruit such employees. This is to ensure adequate budgetary provisions for the emoluments of all new staff.

“Non-executive board members are not employed in the public service of the federation and they are not to be included in the nominal roll. Allowances and fees payable to these categories of persons are to be paid out of the overhead costs of each MDAs.”

The circular also stated that allowances due to Youth Corpers should not be included in the nominal roll as this had been taken care of centrally by the National Youth Service Corps.

It added, “MDAs are not required to include allowances for youth corpers in their personal costs estimates. Any additional allowance payable to youth corpers assigned to MDAs may only be paid from their overhead costs provisions.”

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