Job Loss Imminent As FG Excludes Professional Bodies, Council From Budgetary Allocations

Professional bodies and councils may from now, start to cut costs following their exclusion from the federal government’s budgetary allocation from 1 January 2024.

Presidential Committee On Salaries (PCS) has recommended their exclusion, a decision the Budget Office of the Federation has conveyed to all the bodies in a June 26, 2023 letter signed by Ben Akabueze, its Director-General.

What this means is that the budgetary allocations to all the bodies have ended with the 2023 budget.

In the letter to the Registrar/CEO of the Optometrist & Dispensing Opticians Board and referenced DG/BDT/GEN. CORR/2016/XII/3067, Akabueze disclosed that the recommendation was made at the 13th meeting of the PCS.

The letter titled, “Discontinuation of Funding of Professional Bodies and Councils From 2024 Budget, In Line With The Decisions Of The Presidential Committee On Salaries,” further stated that institutions that are to self-fund themselves, have been excluded from the national budget effective from January 1, 2024.

“I wish to inform you that, the Presidential Committee on Salaries, at its 13th meeting, approved the discontinuation of budgetary allocation to Professional Bodies/Councils effective 1 January 2024.

“The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to inform you that, in compliance with PCS’s directive, this Office will no longer make: budgetary provisions to your Institution with effect from the above-stated date, and you will be regarded as a self-funded organisation.

“For the avoidance of doubt, you will be required, effective December 31, 2026, to be fully responsible for your personnel, overhead, and capital expenditures.

The circular brought to the climax, the age-long request that professional bodies be excluded from the national budget.

Proponents of the idea argued that the bodies, besides the budgetary allocation, collect levies from their members which they use at their discretion.

This decision which some observers said is good to conserve revenue which is currently on the decline, will however cause trimming of the bodies’ personnel asom third quarter of this year.

The PCS’ decision cuts across federal ministries of which the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry, the Ministry of Information and Communication, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Mines and Steel, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Works and Housing, and the Ministry of Environment have at least 25 professional bodies on their list.

Some of the professional bodies include the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, the Computer Registration Council, the Librarians Registration Council, the National Education Research and Development Council, the Mass Literacy Council, the National Examination Council, and the West African Examination Council (Local and International) under the Ministry of Education.

Under the Ministry of Health, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, and the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria will be affected.

Others include the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria, the Nigeria Press Council, the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, the Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geosciences, the Veterinary Council of Nigeria, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, the Survey Council of Nigeria, the Legal Aid Council, the Council of Legal Education, the National Automotive Design and Development Council, and the Nigerian Council of Food Science and Technology.