Buhari Tasks Permanent Secretaries On Prudent Management

President Muhammadu Buhari is pushing further his concern about the prudent management of Nigeria’s finances, with a call on the Permanent Secretaries of various ministries to be prudent in the management of resources.

Ahead of the appointment of ministers, President Buhari has been receiving briefings about happenings in the various ministries to get a first-hand information.

On the saddle on Monday is the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Mrs Anesthesia Nwobia, who told reporters that her ministry was working assiduously to ensure that all revenue leakages were blocked, as instructed by the President.

According to her, the government is a continuum and so the work in the ministry of finance will not stop because there is no minister.

She said though the price of oil had dropped and had reduced the revenue stream to the government, her ministry was working out other avenues to generate revenue to ensure that the government would not go down.

She described as ‘unfair’ reports that large scale looting may be going on in the ministry, as there were no ministers yet.

She said: “Permanent Secretaries are the engine room of the civil service and will continue to do their work”.

On his part the new Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Ahmed Idris, said the Permanent Secretaries had no option than to adhere to the President’s directive that prudent measures should be adopted in the management of the nation’s resources.

According to the Accountant General, about $1.7 billion would be shared to the states from the excess crude Account.