
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Ministry of Defence, the Nigerian Correctional Service, Police formations and commands, among others, propose to spend a total sum of N4.86 billion as payment for bank charges (other than interest) and insurance premiums this year, findings by New Telegraph has shown.
An analysis of the 2025 budget proposals submitted to the National Assembly last month by President Bola Tinubu disclosed that the EFCC proposes to spend N21.55 million and N1.20 billion on bank charges (other than interest) and insurance premiums respectively.
The document also revealed that the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) plans to spend N115,573 to settle bank charges and N100.90 million on insurance premiums.
Further analysis of the budget proposals also disclosed that while the Defence Headquarters plans to use the sums of N127.67 million and N702.24 million to pay for bank charges and insurance premium respectively, the National Defence College wants to expend the sums of N29.80 million and N203.10 million for the same purpose.
Also, Defence Missions proposed N214.55 million for insurance premiums this year, while for Police Formations and Commands, the amounts proposed for bank charges and insurance premiums are N59.70 million and N573.47 million respectively.
However, the document is silent on the amounts that paramilitary agencies, such as the Nigerian Correctional Service, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Fire Service, are proposing for bank charges and only discloses the amounts they plan to pay as insurance premiums.
Specifically, the FRSC proposed the highest amount among the pack with N375 million, followed by the NSCDC with N250.40 million, the Nigerian Correctional Service with N100.56 million, the Federal Fire Service with N100.44 million and the Nigeria Immigration Service with N85 million.
New Telegraph reports that the Federal Government allocated N17.31 billion in the 2025 budget for the provision of Group Life assurance for employees of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), as well as members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The allocation will not only fund the life assurance policies but also cater to administrative and monitoring costs associated with its management.
However, analysts believe that the Federal Government should reduce or merge the number of Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as part of efforts to tackle the country’s fiscal crisis.
Interestingly, in February, last year, President Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, announced that the President had resolved to implement the Stephen Oronsaye report that called for a leaner government by merging some agencies and scrapping some others.
Onanuga stated: “Twelve years after the Steve Oronsaye panel submitted its report on restructuring and rationalizing Federal government parastatals and agencies and a white paper issued two years after, President Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council today decided to implement the report.
“Many agencies will be scrapped and many others will be merged, to pave the way to a leaner government.”
Commenting on Onanuga’s statement, after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, affirmed that some MDAs would be scrapped, merged or subsumed into relevant organisations of government.
He said the aim was only to cut costs and not to throw Nigerians into the labour market.
Mr Idris said at the time that the details of the affected MDAs would be made known soon, adding that a committee had been set up for the implementation of the report.