FG begins implementation of 25% pay cut

The Federal Government on Monday night began the implementation of the 25 per cent reduction in the basic salaries of members of the Federal Executive Council.

The deduction is expected to reflect in their take-home pay for the month of January.

The move followed an earlier directive by President Goodluck Jonathan for the basic salaries of members of the Executive to be slashed by 25 per cent in the wake of the strike over petrol subsidy removal.

The move, according to Jonathan, is to reduce the cost of governance.

The Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama, confirmed the implementation of the directive, while briefing journalists shortly after the monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting in Abuja.

“The process of salary cut has begun and it is taking effect from this January. As a matter of fact, the computation for the reduction of the 25 per cent had already been done by the Accountant-General of the Federation,” he said.

Also, at the meeting which began at 7pm and lasted till about 10.09pm, the committee moved to ensure that civil servants got their salaries by January 20 as directed by the President. It shared N559.11bn, for the month of December 2011, among the three tiers of government.

The money is expected to cushion the effect of the increase in the pump price of petrol following the partial removal of subsidy on the product.

The N559.11bn, according to Ngama, will be credited to the beneficiaries’ accounts immediately.

Source