Tinubu Government Organises Workshop For 36 State Commissioners In London

The Nigerian government has held a workshop for 36 state commissioners for finance in London, the United Kingdom.

Reports says that the event, themed “Public Financial Management and IPSAS Workshop for State Commissioners of Finance and Officials of OAGF,” was organised by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

The attendees of the workshop could not be confirmed but BusinessDay reports that a banner it sighted showed that 36 state commissioners for finance and officials of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation were expected at the event held at the Hilton Kensington in London from March 4–9, 2024.

According to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), commissioners are entitled to $600 estacode for each night spent on a foreign trip.

If the 36 commissioners of finance were present at the event for at least five days, it means a total of $108,000, equivalent to N162,000,000 (at the rate of N1500 per dollar), was spent on estacode.

The above calculation didn’t include the cost of flights.

Other expenses for the commissioners and estacodes for officials of the OAGF and others were not included.

Bawa Mokwa, the director of press at the accountant-general’s office, confirmed to BusinessDay that the workshop held in the UK is an annual event organised by the OAGF and not a one-time meeting.

He clarified that the OAGF members attending the meeting were sub-committees of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), with the implementation committee comprising the commissioners of finance of the 36 states.

“It is an annual event. The OAGF members present at the meeting are sub-committees of FAAC,” he said.

Mokwa said that the UK was chosen as the venue due to the residency of the facilitators in the country, who ensure the effective implementation of the workshop.

“They usually go to the UK to do it annually because the resource persons are resident in the UK and they implement it to the letter,” he said.

He further stated that the workshop was approved by the National Economic Council (NEC).

This foreign trip comes amid promises and moves by President Bola Tinubu’s government to cut down the cost of governance in the country.