THE PERVERSION OF MONETISATION POLICYThe policy has been seriously breached
The monetisation policy, introduced during the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, has a clear aim: to reduce the cost of government, minimise abuse of public resources and promote the culture of discipline. Under the policy, allowances for transport, medical, entertainment, leave grants, etc., as applicable to the annual basic remunerations of each official were monetised. But over the years, the appetite to implement the reform is far feebler than the enthusiasm with which the policy was initiated. Today, almost every organ of the federal government observes it more in the breach, such that public officials are practically eating their cakes and having them back. And the breach is across board – from the presidency to the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), and to the National Assembly and judiciary.
By the policy, some allowances and fringe benefits of federal civil servants and political office holders are monetised. These include residential accommodation, motor vehicles, maintenance of transport facilities, fuelling, domestic servants, medical treatment, etc. The initial implementation of the policy had led to the sale of government vehicles and houses to public officials at heavily discounted prices. There was also a mass disengagement of MDA drivers – all of whom were released on generous terms. All Housing and transport allowances were subsequently monetised in millions of Naira for categories of officials.
However, in a few instances where the policy allows for provisions of some items, they are specifically mentioned. For instance, the budget of most ministries often provides for project vans, patrol trucks, buses and ambulances. That created the initial loophole for public officers to make mockery of the policy. The MDAs that were stripped of some vehicles and drivers at great expense today have more cars and drivers than they had before the policy was implemented, while many public officers are still being housed at public expense. Indeed, most of them have succeeded in rewriting the rules by suffocating the taxpayers through imprudent use of the country’s resources.
However, what will surprise many is that there are worrying echoes of such wastes in almost every ministry, particularly those with “juicy” parastatals. Perhaps the most explicit example of the abuse can be found in the reports that the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has purchased jeeps for all its 38 commissioners. Today, thousands of officials in several ministries and agencies are chauffeured-driven in the latest models of Toyota Prado and Land Cruisers. The hefty amount spent on the purchase of these cars is often concealed under spurious subheads. The money is thereafter diverted for the purchase of these cars. In many of the ministries and agencies, even when their budget makes little provision for the purchase of vehicles, they usually have quite a chunk of money hidden for buying the latest cars, at public expense.
In August 2023, for instance, it was reported that each of the 48 Ministers appointed by President Bola Tinubu would be given four official vehicles likely to include a Landcruiser, a Prado Jeep and two Hilux trucks. Even the lawmakers in the National Assembly are implicated in this gross abuse of the monetisation policy, and by extension contributing greatly to the current fiscal mess. At the beginning of every session, they spend hundreds of billions of Naira to buy for themselves the latest SUVs.
As things stand, the monetisation of fringe benefits in the public sector that was designed to cut the cost of governance and entrench efficiency in the allocation of resources has been perverted by the same people who were supposed to implement the policy.
