The
Federal Government has banned the procurement and distribution of bags,
T-shirts and other souvenirs at events such as Conferences and Seminars funded
by Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
In
a statement on Sunday in Abuja by the Director of Information, Federal Ministry
of Finance, Mr Salisu Dambatta, said President Buhari had approved the ban
following recommendations by the Efficiency Unit.
It
said the Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Abba Kyari, had forwarded the
directive to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of the
Civil Service of the Federation and the Ministers of Finance and Budget and
National Planning, for implementation.
According
to the statement, the ban was in continuation of the on-going cost-cutting and
efficiency drive in the utilisation of public funds by the present
administration.
President
Buhari had set up the Efficiency Unit to review all federal government’s overhead
expenditure to reduce wastage, promote efficiency and ensure quantifiable
savings for the country.
The
Minister of Finance, Head of Service of the Federation, Accountant-General of
the Federation, Auditor-General of the Federation and Director, Budget Office
of the Federation are members of the Unit.
The
Unit identified procurement as the area to begin the execution of its mandate
of reducing overhead costs and wastage resources.
The
Efficiency unit had already recorded success in cutting government overhead
cost in areas such as travels, welfare, honorarium, sitting allowance,
training, adverts and publicity as well as refreshments.
It
had gone a step further to relocate some of federal government’s MDAs into
recovered looted properties as ways to reduce overhead cost.
“The
directive which is a recognition of the fact that in a period of lean financial
resources unnecessary expenditure on overheads such souvenirs are luxuries that
the government must eliminate.
“This
will enable release of funds for infrastructure and services such as health and
education that would have direct positive impact on the well being of the
citizenry and promote economic development.
“The
directive also contained specific guidelines that would reduce the cost of
printing Invitation Cards, Programme of events, Brochures, Folders and Note
Pads.
“Among
the guidelines are that they should be in black and white and limited to only
one page and in the case of Brochures they should be streamlined to contain
only essential information,” it said.
Also,
the statement said the printing of unnecessary publications and books of short
shelf life which have no real value to the concerned public institutions or the
citizens has also been banned.
“MDAs
were encouraged to save costs by uploading such publications on their websites
which has the added benefit of wider visibility,” it said.
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