By JOY EFULE
The Senate says it has uncovered how the Board of Directors of Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc allegedly paid a N14b salary increase to its staff members without the approval of the National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission.
The chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Senator Ahmed Wadada, disclosed this during a session in the Senate in Abuja when the management of NSPMC appeared before the committee concerning the 2019 report of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
The report of the Auditor-General revealed that between 2016 and 2019, NSPMC’s Board of Directors approved N14 billion for salaries and allowances without the approval of the salaries and wages regulatory body.
Article 3 of the NSIWC Act, 1990 stipulates that the Commission shall advise the Federal Government on national income policy, recommend the proportions of income growth that should be utilised for general wage increases, inform the Federal Government of current and incipient trends in wages and propose guidelines within which increases in wages should be confined, among others.
In his written submission, however, the Managing Director of NSPMC, Ahmed Halilu, claimed that the Commission did not need any approval from the salaries and wages regulatory body because it was registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act.
However, Halilu later admitted before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts that it was wrong not to seek approval from the NSIWC before implementing the new salary and allowance increase for the company.
Halilu further said: “It has come to our notice that we must obtain approval before salaries increase. It is salaries paid over three years. On this ground, it was not misappropriated considering the volume of work done by thousands of staff over this period.”
In their responses, nearly all members of the committee expressed displeasure with the illegal payment, pointing out that public funds were spent without due process.
The Deputy Whip of the Senate, Senator Nwebonyi Onyeka, explained that government money was spent without due process, adding that the misappropriated fund should be refunded.
