Indications emerged over the weekend that workers in Federal Government establishments earning superfluous salaries may have their wages reviewed.

This is in line with renewed push by government to put a check on fleecing revenue by revenue generating agencies. To underline its seriousness, evaluation and grading department officers of the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission are currently on the field for the assignment, according to a top officer at the commission. “Our evaluation and grading officers are currently out there on the field for the purpose.

In the past, we extended invitation to some of these agencies, of recent was the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), but it never responded.

“The team out there is expected to return to the office this week and submit their report to the chairman, who will study it and make recommendations to the Federal government,” the source at the commission confirmed to New Telegraph.

The Public Relations Officer at the commission, Mr. Williams B. Danbaki, who also confirmed the development to our correspondent on phone, however, declined further explanation.

Special Assistant to the Chairman of the commission, Mr. Chadi Abidioeu, said, as a practice, he does not respond to official matters on weekends.

“I am sorry, I don’t respond to office matters on resting days. Call me on Monday for clarifications you are seeking,” he told our correspondent. However, a top officer with the Finance Ministry in Abuja also confirmed to our correspondent that representatives of the Wages Commission would be included in fund recovery committee announced last week by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.

The officer, who spoke in confidence, said the Federal Government was not happy that some revenue generating agencies had been consuming 85 per cent of their revenue surplus as salary and overheads while they persistently declare operating losses in their statements of account.

“The minister has decided to integrate the representatives of National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission in the committee headed by the Accountant General of the Federation to probe and recover unremitted revenue surplus in custody of MDAs.

“Recall that the issue of bogus salaries by some agencies such as Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), NDIC, NIMASA, NPA, CBN, and very numerous other agencies came up at certain time in the era of previous governments and income and wages commission was to come up with an acceptable salary scale for these agencies, but the work was abandoned.

“The current reality and short-changing government of its enormous revenue by revenue generating agencies call for a revisit of salary template for agencies,” he said. Contacted, Special Assistant on Media to Finance Minister, Festus Akanbi, didn’t respond to calls and text message to his telephone.

The Fiscal Responsibility Commission, two weeks ago, raised the alarm that revenue generating agencies were short-changing government by declaring operating losses in their statements of account.

The commission alleged that revenue agencies withheld operating surplus meant for transfer to the Consolidated Revenue Account and deployed same into funding over bloated salaries and overheads.

The Finance Ministry, last week, constituted a committee to recover unremitted operating surpluses of agencies of government, running into N450 billion.

The committee led by the Accountant General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris, was mandated to reconcile the operating surpluses of 31 revenue- generating agencies of government for the period 2010 to 2015.

The findings of the committee revealed underremittance of over N450 billion said to have accrued within the period. The committee, added the statement, would be inviting the management of these agencies to explain why their operating surpluses were not remitted as mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

Some of these agencies have incurred huge expenses on overseas training and medicals, and huge expenses on behalf of supervisory ministries and/other organs of government involved in oversight or regulatory functions without appropriate approval.

Other infractions include payment of salaries and allowances to staff and board members, governing councils, and commissions, which are outside or above the amount approved by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) and the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission.

The list also includes unacceptable expenses incurred on donations, sponsorships, unfavourable contract signed for revenue collection by third party; granting of staff loans that have not been repaid, as well as sale and transfer of assets to board members, among others.

According to the Finance Ministry, the overall effect of these practices is that operating surpluses of these agencies are lower than should be.

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