ABUJA, Nigeria – Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, MDAs, in Nigeria have been experiencing considerable delays in their operations due to an order from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, that froze their accounts.
Civil servants from various tiers of government expressed concerns about the non-availability of funds, which they claim is hindering their work and the expectations of the public.
Reports indicate that the Nigerian government has imposed an embargo on further payments to its MDAs.
This move comes in the wake of President Muhammadu Buhari’s order issued days before he handed over power to President Bola Tinubu.
The directive was purportedly aimed at preventing last-minute looting of government funds or frivolous spending.
“I can tell you that it was the administration of former President Buhari that actually gave the directive to the CBN, and this has nothing to do with the suspended governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele,” revealed a senior government official who requested anonymity on Friday, June 16, 2023.
In the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, OSGF, employees have lamented the current financial crunch.
Some attributed the situation as one of the reasons for the lowkey June 12, 2023, celebration and the modest welcome for the new Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, who assumed office on June 7, 2023.
Similarly, senior officials in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, OHoCSF, expressed their shock, having expected the freeze order to be implemented by the incoming Tinubu administration.
They were taken aback when the order came from the outgoing Buhari administration.
“We first got the information from our colleagues from the OSGF, who asked us if we had such an experience with non-disbursement of funds. I even told one of them that there were still mandates and schedules to be met, until two of our memos were returned with notes on the freezing of the accounts,” recounted another official who preferred anonymity.
Except for the payment of salaries to federal workers, which are being handled directly from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, all other financial mandates have been left hanging due to the current embargo, adding to the distress of civil servants and potentially slowing the pace of government operations nationwide.
