Responsibility centre managers and heads of departments and units within Nigeria’s federal civil service may resort to downing tools to protest the backlog of legitimate claims owed to them in the last two years or even longer. In the alternative, increased truancy and coordinated moves to frustrate the system may become the assured response to the nonchalance of the relevant authority: the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF).
It is common knowledge that the machinery of governance is fuelled not just by policy, but by the dedicated personnel who execute it. In Nigeria, the senior civil service cadre represents the institutional memory and administrative backbone of the nation. From one administration to another, from year to year, these set of dedicated Nigerians ensure that the wheel of governance never grinds to a halt. They are the unseen engine that powers diplomacy, infrastructural development, education, agriculture and health, to mention only few of the critical sectors of our national life that will suffer deficiency should senior civil servants decide for a showdown.
For the past 24 months or longer, a troubling silence has emanated from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) regarding the settlement of legitimate, approved claims by various responsibility centre managers, heads of units and departments and, perhaps, their immediate subordinates.
From Duty Tour Allowances (DTA) and office consumables to critical meeting expenses, these monies are not “bonuses”. They are reimbursements for costs incurred in the line of duty, not arbitrarily but after due approvals.
The Centralisation Bottleneck
The current impasse traces back to a significant shift in fiscal administration: the transition of payment responsibilities for these claims directly to the OAGF. While centralisation was intended to enhance transparency and curb leakages, the practical result has been a stagnant backlog that threatens the welfare of top-tier administrators.
By standard civil service practice, many senior officials have used personal funds to ensure government functions do not grind to a halt, essentially loaning money to the state from their private pockets interest free. These funds are usually reimbursed as budgeted subheads in the different MDAs. With the centralisation of payments in the OAGF, civil servants now wait almost forever to get these reimbursements, resulting in defeated morale in the performance of their duties.
Two years of unpaid arrears sends a depressing signal that official sacrifice is met with bureaucratic indifference and when legitimate claims for office consumables and travel go ignored, the quality of public service delivery inevitably declines.
A Call for Accountability
The Office of the Accountant-General holds the keys to the Federal Treasury. While fiscal discipline is necessary, it must not come at the expense of the very people tasked with implementing the government’s agenda. Efficiency in governance is impossible when the administrators of the state are themselves burdened by the state’s failure to honour its financial commitments
The continued withholding of these funds is increasingly difficult to justify, especially as these claims were duly approved and budgeted for within their respective MDAs (Ministries, Departments, and Agencies). It is a shameful indictment on the waning sense of efficiency in our public financial management as it exposes palpable prioritisation crises in the Office of the Accountant-General.
Withholding reimbursements for two years during a period of inflationary pressure effectively devalues the money owed to these officers, placing an unfair financial burden on individuals who have already fulfilled their professional obligations. This is economic injustice.
The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation must show accountability in this matter and immediately commence the process to redress this injustice by ensuring payment of arrears of claims without further delay.
Accountant-General of the Federation must
The Nigerian civil servant is often asked to do more with less. It is only fair that they are not asked to do it for nothing. The time to honour these legitimate claims is not “in due course”. It is now.
