Para-military agencies key into presidential directive on automated system payment

In continuation with the presidential directive on ensuring all Federal Government agencies are captured into single platform, which ensures accountability and control, para-military agencies have in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance commenced modalities to ensure they key into the platform.

In this regard, Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, and Bassey Ekpeyong, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Interior, held a meeting on Tuesday in Abuja to work out modalities to ensure swift transition into the single payment platform.

According to the minister, “This is in continuation with the exercise we have commenced recently with the military and in line with the Presidential directive that all agencies of the Federal Government must ensure they key into a single payment platform before the end of the year.

“Already, all the team involved are working very hard towards achieving that. The Para-military agencies are here to discuss the modalities on how this would be achieved.

“Specifically, there are also other forms of allowances such as hazard, or risk, which are classified as non-regular allowances, and we have to make sure that those non regular allowances are paid to those who are directly to those involved and the best way to do that is through automated system platforms, which the BVN would facilitate.”

On the larger scale, the minister explained that the initiative ensured accountability and control in line with the mandate of the present government to prune down cost.

It makes it easier for their agencies and cuts down delays in paying salaries are minimised, there is fairness, people know what they get and on our own side there is improvement in financial control and transparency.

“As you know, we spend N165 billion for the payment of salaries and allowances and we need to put to check and know whom we are paying and with the automated system platforms we could trace this money went to this person to guarantee transparency.

“As we speak also, the Police is being enrolled, for the Military, we already have a road map to ensure we have security personnel data for easier transition,” she said.

Responding, the permanent secretary the ministry of interior Bassey Ekpeyong, said, “On the automated system, we would know exactly, whom we are paying and how many we are. This has been an issue in terms of ascertaining, how many personnel each and every of these services have.

“The services sometimes think they are over bloated and other times they think they need more hand. The man hours spend by the agencies in doing the payment on their own would be done away with.”

Also Mohammed Dikwa, the head of the Continuous Audit team for the single payment platform, said the team would keep working hard to ensure that all the security agencies would be on the platform latest by the end of the month.

“The training would commence as at Monday next week, and as soon as we finish, we bring them on board. Already, preliminary discussions and trainings have already taken place to the accountant general of the federation,” he said.