Government bars ministers, permanent secretaries from flying first class

The Federal Government has barred all political appointees and public servants from flying first class while on official duty.
The government in a statement yesterday by the Special Assistant to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Festus Akanbi directed that ministers, permanent secretaries, chairmen of Federal Government committees, as well as chairmen and chief executives of ministries, departments and agencies are to fly business class during official duty.

In the same vein, all public and civil servants working for the government from the least to the rank of director are confined to economy class during official duty

The order is part of measures put together by the Federal Government in its bid to reduce overhead expenditure and to make more funds available for the financing of capital projects in this year budget.

An estimated sum of N13.88 billion is expected to be saved from this initiative adopted by the Efficiency Unit of the Federal Ministry of Finance introduced by the Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun when viewed against the travel expenses last year where the sum of N69.417 billion was expended. The cut represents 20 per cent.

The development is coming on the heels of an earlier discount on tickets procured from airlines dealing with the Federal Government for all official trips by its officials this year ranging from between 7 per cent to 50 per cent on several routes.

The statement explained that the development is in line with the mandate of the Efficiency Unit of the Federal Ministry of Finance which is collaborating very closely with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) to review the provisions of some extant government circulars on overhead expenses one of which is on travels.

The statement further stated, “ The second recommendation bordered on the need to reduce the frequency of travels by ensuring that Board and Committee events such as meetings, workshops and conferences in Nigeria are held in locations where the institutions or persons participating in the event are domiciled. Furthermore, such events should for the most part be held in Nigeria but where this is not possible, the prior approval of the Secretary to the Federal Government should be secured.”