The Senate revealed on Monday that the Board of Directors of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc (NSPMC) allegedly disbursed a N14 billion salary increase to its employees without obtaining approval from the National Salaries, Wages, Incomes, and Wages Commission.
This discovery was made during a session in the Senate’s Red Chamber in Abuja, where the NSPMC’s management appeared before the Senate Public Accounts Committee to address issues raised in the 2019 report of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
According to the Auditor-General’s report, between 2016 and 2019, the NSPMC’s Board of Directors sanctioned N14 billion for salary and allowance increases without seeking the necessary approvals from the regulatory body responsible for salaries and wages.
The NSIWC Act of 1990, under Article 3, mandates the commission to advise the Federal Government on national income policy, recommend income growth allocation for general wage increases, report current and emerging wage trends, and propose wage increase guidelines, among other responsibilities.
In a written submission, the Managing Director of NSPMC, Ahmed Halilu, initially argued that the company, being registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, did not require approval from the salaries and wages regulatory body. However, during the Senate Committee on Public Accounts’ proceedings, he later admitted that it was incorrect not to seek approval from the NSIWC before implementing the salary and allowance increase.
Halilu explained, “It has come to our notice that we must obtain approval before salary increases. The increase covers three years, and considering the substantial volume of work done by thousands of staff during this period, it was not misappropriated.”
Members of the committee expressed their dissatisfaction with the unauthorised payment, highlighting that public funds had been spent without due process. Senator Nwebonyi Onyeka, the Deputy Whip of the Senate, pointed out that government funds were disbursed without following the proper procedures and suggested that the misappropriated funds should be refunded.
