Linus Oota , Lafia
The Accountant General of Nasarawa State, Mr. Zakka Yakubu has proposed the review of civil servants salaries in order to free up funds for infrastructural development .
Zakka, spoke during a visit by officials of the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning to the House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriation, yesterday, in Lafia.
Zakka said the state paid the highest amount in Northern Nigeria as salaries to civil servants, and urged that the figure should be reviewed downwards as civil servants constitute only 4 per cent of the state’s population.
“In Nasarawa, we pay the highest salary in the whole of North, we pay more than Federal Capital. For instance, a level 13 officer in Nasarawa is collecting N142,000 to N148,000, while the Federal Capital Territory pays N93,000 at the same level
“When we receive allocation from the federation account, the whole of it goes to salary, we have a long way to go. Civil servants constitute only four per cent of population, government is all about services and wow can we render services when we have over-bloated our salary,” said Zakka.
Zakka also called for upward review of charges and taxes in order to boost Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“Our revenue rate is poor. Most rates have to be reviewed if we need to generate revenue. Cost of producing receipt is more than collections. For instance, market receipt is N10, you go to court to swear an affidavit, you pay higher and what is on the receipt is N200 and they will charge you N1,000. Something needs to be done,” he said.
Zakka also advocated the reduction in fees of Nasarawa State University to allow children of the poor access the institution.