BusinessDay reports that the event, themed “Public Financial Management and IPSAS Workshop for State Commissioners of Finance and Officials of OAGF,” was organised by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
Amid claims of cutting down the cost of governance, the Nigerian government held a workshop for 36 state commissioners for finance in London, the United Kingdom.
The attendees of the workshop could not be confirmed but BusinessDay reports that a banner it sighted showed that 36 state commissioners for finance and officials of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation were expected at the event held at the Hilton Kensington in London from March 4–9, 2024.
According to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), commissioners are entitled to $600 estacode for each night spent on a foreign trip.
If the 36 commissioners of finance were present at the event for at least five days, it means a total of $108,000, equivalent to N162,000,000 (at the rate of N1500 per dollar), was spent on estacode.
The above calculation didn’t include the cost of flights.
Other expenses for the commissioners and estacodes for officials of the OAGF and others were not included.
Bawa Mokwa, the director of press at the accountant-general’s office, confirmed to BusinessDay that the workshop held in the UK is an annual event organised by the OAGF and not a one-time meeting.
He clarified that the OAGF members attending the meeting were sub-committees of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), with the implementation committee comprising the commissioners of finance of the 36 states.
“It is an annual event. The OAGF members present at the meeting are sub-committees of FAAC,” he said.
Mokwa said that the UK was chosen as the venue due to the residency of the facilitators in the country, who ensure the effective implementation of the workshop.
“They usually go to the UK to do it annually because the resource persons are resident in the UK and they implement it to the letter,” he said.
He further stated that the workshop was approved by the National Economic Council (NEC).
This foreign trip comes amid promises and moves by President Bola Tinubu’s government to cut down the cost of governance in the country.
SaharaReporters reported in January that President Tinubu’s administration announced that it had slashed the travel expenditure of all government officials - both domestic and international - by 60 percent.
Ajuri Ngelale, a presidential spokesman said the directive was issued as a cost-cutting measure on official travels.
He said the measure would also affect the offices of the President, Vice President, First Lady, and ministers.
“Tinubu has directed that all state entourages be drastically reduced,” Ngelale said.
The presidential aide said it is “not a request” but a “directive”.
“The office of the president and staff will be affected. VP, appointees are affected. By this directive, there will be a slashing of expenditure on official travel by 60 per cent,” Ngelale said.
In February, the Presidency released a list of government agencies to be merged after President Tinubu ordered the full implementation of the Steven Oronsaye report.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan established the presidential committee on government agency reform in 2011, which was chaired by Steven Oronsaye, the Federation's former Head of Service.
Its terms of reference included, among other things, reviewing the enabling Acts and mandates of all federal agencies, parastatals, and commissions to identify areas of overlap or duplication of functions.
The committee recommended reducing 263 statutory agencies to 161, abolishing 38, merging 52, and reverting 14 to departments in ministries. However, a white paper committee led by then-Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mohammed Adoke rejected the majority of the recommendations.
However, the Tinubu government has been accused of only paying lip service to the need to reduce the cost of governance. So far, it appears the government has been ‘all talk, no action’.
For instance, in last February, SaharaReporters reported that President Tinubu’s sons – Seyi and Yinka – were among the delegation to travel with him on a state visit to Doha, Qatar.
Tinubu was eventually accompanied by his sons, among others on his visit to Qatar in March.