As part of the austerity measures aimed at cushioning the
effect of dwindling oil revenue accruing to the government as result of the
fall in oil price in the international market, Nigeria’s Finance Minister,
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said that the Federal Government would weed out 60,000
“ghost workers” from the payroll.
Okonjo-Iweala said the government would save N160 billion
naira by weeding out the 60,000 “ghost workers” from the payroll, although she
did not give a time frame.
She also said that a significant portion of the billions of
dollars draingnificant portion of the billions of dollars drained from the oil
savings account over the past two years was distributed to powerful governors
instead of being saved for a rainy day.
Reuters reports that Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer,
is grappling with financial difficulties owing to a 30 percent fall in the
price of oil since June, which has added pressure on the government’s already
depleted fiscal buffers.
