Jonathan Approves N4.7bn Xmas Bonus
President Goodluck Jonathan has approved N4,705,368,635 as Christmas bonus to federal workers, THE PUNCH has learnt.
Bu the bonanza, which was usually paid to workers in a few ministries and agencies in December along with their salaries until 2009 when all MDAs were included, could not be paid before the end of 2010.
The President’s approval was given on December 22, 2010, via a letter with reference no: Pres/87/MF/182 from the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration, Mr. Matt Aikhiombare, and addressed to the finance minister.
His approval followed a memo by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, also dated December 22, 2010 to the President, reminding him of the annual payment of Special Overtime and End of Year bonus to all staff of the ministry, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and others.
The payment, he added, was meant to curb fraudulent practices in the management of government finances.
Aganga had noted that the payment started with the Nigerian Customs Service and the Federal Inland Revenue Service in 1994, as a special incentive to boost revenue collection and reduce loss of revenue due to fraud and other sharp practices.
He explained, “At the time, targets were set and staff of the two agencies were to get four per cent of monies realised beyond the set targets.
“The incentive was expanded to include staff of the ministry, Budget Office of the Federation and the Office of the Accountant-General, being supervisors of these revenue-generating agencies. This tradition has been in practice ever since.
He added that in 2005, government approved that four per cent and seven per cent of the revenue generated by FIRS and NCS respectively should be retained by the two agencies.
However, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget Office and the OAGF were left out, in spite of their significant contributions to revenue generation and expenditure management.
Aganga said, “Following this development, the ministry annually applies for presidential approval for the payment of the special incentives to its staff.
“However, in 2009, the concept was modified and extended to include some ministries and agencies. To this end, MDAs have made formal requests for the payment of the incentives.
“The total amount as compiled is as detailed hereunder: FMF, OAGF & BOF N1, 111, 398, 136 (74 per cent of request); Office of the SGF N207, 544, 256 (50 per cent of request); Office of the HOSF N386, 426, 243 (50 per cent of request); State House, N42,570, 291 ( 100 per cent of request); and other MDAs, N2,957,429, 709, totalling N4,705, 368,635.”
Investigations, however, showed that the non-payment of the bonanza to workers before the end of last year had raised concerns among workers as some ministries and agencies gave bags of rice and groundnut oil to their staff instead of the expected cash.
The ministries of Health and Finance; Joint Admission and Matriculation Board; Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation; Universal Basic Education Commission; and Central Bank of Nigeria gave rice to their staff.
A member of staff in one of the ministries told our correspondent that workers on grade levels 1-14 got rice and oil. He expressed worry that these items might have been given them in lieu of the cash bonus.
He said, “Instead, they gave a bag of rice and jar of groundnut oil to the workers in place of the money.”
Further, he alleged that staff of the Federal Ministry of Health collected cash as christmas bonus when Prof. Adenike Grange was the minister, but such payment ended with her exit.
“Our suspicion is that government has been releasing this money without it reaching us,” he added.
However, Aganga’s memo to the President stated that “the said amount would be sourced from servicewide vote.”
Apart from this incentive-driven bonanza, workers are still battling for the payment of the new minimum wage.The Federal Government last week claimed that it had forwarded a minimum wage bill to the National Assembly to provide a legal framework for the wage hike.
Bu the bonanza, which was usually paid to workers in a few ministries and agencies in December along with their salaries until 2009 when all MDAs were included, could not be paid before the end of 2010.
The President’s approval was given on December 22, 2010, via a letter with reference no: Pres/87/MF/182 from the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration, Mr. Matt Aikhiombare, and addressed to the finance minister.
His approval followed a memo by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, also dated December 22, 2010 to the President, reminding him of the annual payment of Special Overtime and End of Year bonus to all staff of the ministry, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and others.
The payment, he added, was meant to curb fraudulent practices in the management of government finances.
Aganga had noted that the payment started with the Nigerian Customs Service and the Federal Inland Revenue Service in 1994, as a special incentive to boost revenue collection and reduce loss of revenue due to fraud and other sharp practices.
He explained, “At the time, targets were set and staff of the two agencies were to get four per cent of monies realised beyond the set targets.
“The incentive was expanded to include staff of the ministry, Budget Office of the Federation and the Office of the Accountant-General, being supervisors of these revenue-generating agencies. This tradition has been in practice ever since.
He added that in 2005, government approved that four per cent and seven per cent of the revenue generated by FIRS and NCS respectively should be retained by the two agencies.
However, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget Office and the OAGF were left out, in spite of their significant contributions to revenue generation and expenditure management.
Aganga said, “Following this development, the ministry annually applies for presidential approval for the payment of the special incentives to its staff.
“However, in 2009, the concept was modified and extended to include some ministries and agencies. To this end, MDAs have made formal requests for the payment of the incentives.
“The total amount as compiled is as detailed hereunder: FMF, OAGF & BOF N1, 111, 398, 136 (74 per cent of request); Office of the SGF N207, 544, 256 (50 per cent of request); Office of the HOSF N386, 426, 243 (50 per cent of request); State House, N42,570, 291 ( 100 per cent of request); and other MDAs, N2,957,429, 709, totalling N4,705, 368,635.”
Investigations, however, showed that the non-payment of the bonanza to workers before the end of last year had raised concerns among workers as some ministries and agencies gave bags of rice and groundnut oil to their staff instead of the expected cash.
The ministries of Health and Finance; Joint Admission and Matriculation Board; Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation; Universal Basic Education Commission; and Central Bank of Nigeria gave rice to their staff.
A member of staff in one of the ministries told our correspondent that workers on grade levels 1-14 got rice and oil. He expressed worry that these items might have been given them in lieu of the cash bonus.
He said, “Instead, they gave a bag of rice and jar of groundnut oil to the workers in place of the money.”
Further, he alleged that staff of the Federal Ministry of Health collected cash as christmas bonus when Prof. Adenike Grange was the minister, but such payment ended with her exit.
“Our suspicion is that government has been releasing this money without it reaching us,” he added.
However, Aganga’s memo to the President stated that “the said amount would be sourced from servicewide vote.”
Apart from this incentive-driven bonanza, workers are still battling for the payment of the new minimum wage.The Federal Government last week claimed that it had forwarded a minimum wage bill to the National Assembly to provide a legal framework for the wage hike.
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