Govt restricts monetisation to core civil service
From Bethrand Nwankwo,
Abuja
A FULL-SCALE implementation of the monetisation policy has been shelved by the Federal Government.
Declaring the cost effects of converting the fringe benefits of all the workers in the federal public service into cash in one swing as unhealthy for the economy, the Head of Service of the Federation (HOS) Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, said yesterday in Abuja that the government would this year restrict the exercise to the core civil service (ministries). The HOS spoke to journalists at an event to mark the 2004 Civil Service Day.
He said the government would use the period to determine the actual take-home pay of its employees.
Ahmed further disclosed that the government had identified hidden packages and benefits enjoyed by the workers. He listed them as accommodation, official cars, stewards/drivers, security guards among others.
Consequently, the government, Ahmed explained, had resolved to shift the implementation of the monetisation policy in all parastatals to next year.
Ahmed, who put the workforce in the core civil service at 180,000 nationwide, said some employees due for retirement were manipulating their ages to keep their jobs.
He said that although the monetisation exercise had started, the government was laying emphasis on workers in the ministries.
Ahmed noted that government could not afford to carry every worker along at this initial sage because it was too expensive.
The objective of the policy, according to him, was to underscore the truth that the management of fringe benefits tended to create leakages weighing heavily on the cost of government.
"There was inequality as majority of officers did not enjoy those benefits. Monetisation on the other hand, is anchored on equity as every officer gets his or her due," he said.
On other reforms in the service, Ahmed expressed the belief that the New Pensions Bill would soon be passed into law by the National Assembly after participation and carefully managed inputs of stakeholders.
The government, he said was undeterred by the back-log of pensions arrears and gratuities of retired workers.
He pointed out that government had already paid over N37 billion to about 120,000 retired officers.
Ahmed said: "Our hope is that with the new contributory pensions policy, we are on the way to getting out of perpetual indebtedness to a better managed system, self-regenerated and sustainable pensions regime".
The HOS also assured that the abandoned Civil Service College in Abuja would be completed.
The college would focus on leadership and professional core skills development.
Fielding questions from reporters, Ahmed admitted that age manipulation was rife in the civil service.
Said he: "We now have an ageing service with 60 per cent of serving officers within the age of 40 years and above".
"It should not be a surprise that a large proportion of staff on payroll are over the age limit for serving officers, but continue to amend their records to stay on in the service".
"We have discovered that except we utilise the modern techniques on scrutinising, we would never be able to clean up our records and determine our actual staff strength," he declared.
Ahmed revealed that 70 per cent of the workforce was made up of unskilled workers in levels 01-06.
The government, he said, would do everything to empower the service to be more productive and inject critical energy or competencies using a mix of creative strategies.
