Budget padding: FG moves 22 senior officers

There were strong indications on Thursday that the Federal Government had started the restructuring of the civil service.

The PUNCH reported that as part of the restructuring, 22 seniors officers had been posted out of the Ministry of Budget and Planning.

It was learnt that the restructuring was one of the steps by the government to probe the padding that had delayed the passage of the 2016 budget.

The restructuring affected all ministries, departments and agencies as a total number of 184 senior officers were moved from all the MDAs.

It was learnt that in the budget office, those affected included four directors, six deputy directors and 12 assistant directors.

Findings showed the transfer was part of the efforts to restructure and strengthen the civil service. Investigations showed that the officers had been mandated to report at their new posts on Friday.

When contacted, the spokesman for Senator Udoma Udoma, who is the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr. James Akpandem, confirmed the postings, but he declined to make further comments.

It was, however, learnt that the government’s action was not unconnected with the recent developments over the 2016 budget.

A source in the Presidency, who confided in The PUNCH, said, “The action is the beginning of the reorganisation of the service. It is also connected with the sad incident over the 2016 budget.”

The preparations of the budget had been fraught with errors and President Muhammadu Buhari had vowed to punish those responsible for the padding of the budget.

SOURCE: Niyi Odebode