19th January, 2012
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has declared that the government will further cut overhead cost in the administration of the country in line with President Goodluck Jonathan’s desire to reduce the cost of governance.
Appearing for the second time before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee probing the management of fuel subsidy, Okonjo-Iweala admitted that wastes and inefficiency exist in the system but quickly assured that the government was doing everything possible to sanitise the system.
She disclosed that the president had asked her to cut down on overhead costs in the running of government, adding that this was being done and the result will manifest soon.
Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the coordinating minister for the economy, explained that the government was trying to increase non-oil revenues by paying attention to other sectors of the economy.
She also clarified that the country was not broke as being insinuated in some quarters.
According to her, the reason behind government’s insistence that subsidy be removed on petroleum products was to prevent a situation where the government will be financing the budget with borrowings.
She stressed the need for the government to reduce its debts so that future generations are not saddled with paying debts instead of pursuing developmental goals.
She also assured that the government, as part of measures to reduce wastes and inefficiency, would take a second look at agreements, contracts signed between the government and oil companies to ensure that the country derives maximum benefit from them.
—Lanre Babalola