- The 2025 budget for State House agencies will be based on a thorough needs assessment according to the Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila
- Gbajabiamila assured that issues related to staff remuneration, office space, and other concerns will be addressed
- He urged agency staff to embrace innovation, uphold high standards, and support their Chief Executives for organisational success
The 2025 budget for State House agencies will be structured around a thorough needs assessment, to ensure that the allocation of funds is rooted in actual requirements, according to the Presidency.
This was revealed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, while speaking to journalists during a one-day fact-finding tour of government agencies managed by the State House on Wednesday, August 21.
2025 budget will be based on actual requirements
Gbajabiamila said, ”In any country in the world, resources are limited. For us, it is about prioritizing. Where are we so far? What have the agencies done? How have they measured up to their mandates and how important are their mandates in terms of the vision of this administration and the Renewed Hope Agenda?
“A lot of agencies are not properly funded. Do we merge some of these agencies, or do we scrap some? I’m not talking about the State House agencies.
He further said, “In 2025 we are not going to budget in a vacuum. We will budget based on needs assessment.”
Staff welfare will be enhanced - Presidency
The Chief of Staff, in separate meetings with the Heads and staff of the relevant agencies, pledged that the Presidency would take steps to enhance the welfare and working conditions of the personnel within these agencies supervised by the State House.
He called on the staff of these agencies to embrace creativity, uphold high standards, and act professionally, all while offering strong support to their Chief Executives for their success.
Gbajabiamila, along with Deputy Chief of Staff Sen. Ibrahim Hadeija, Permanent Secretary Engr. Olufunso Adebiyi, and Senior Special Assistant Mrs. Oyinade Nathan-Marsh, emphasised the importance of maintaining transparency in procurement to uphold the administration’s commitment to both governance and accountability.
Presidency reaffirms administration’s dedication to strengthening institutions
The Chief of Staff's visit included stops at the Nigeria Agriculture and Land Development Agency (NALDA), the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).
Gbajabiamila, during the tour, stressed the vital contribution of these agencies to the government’s Renewed Hope Agenda for economic and developmental advancement and reaffirmed the administration’s dedication to reinforcing these institutions.
He remarked that this visit, the first of its kind under the current administration, served as a follow-up to the recent one-day retreat for the Heads of State House Agencies.
The retreat was organised to bolster the administration’s dedication to enhancing institutional strength, ensuring agencies are adequately prepared to meet their responsibilities, and cutting the cost of governance.
Government pledges to resolve critical issues
Gbajabiamila assured the agencies that their issues regarding staff remuneration, insufficient office space, and other valid concerns would be resolved, and pledged to implement measures to establish a more supportive work environment.
“This government is particular about diversifying our economy and the role the agriculture sector has to play is very important, ” he said during an interactive session with the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of NALDA, Engr. Cornelius Adebayo.
“This government is focusing very seriously on agriculture and food security and we trust that NALDA will continue to be innovative in its operations, including developing greenhouses and supporting the cultivation of more arable land across the country,” Gbajabiamila added.
3,500 teaching jobs up for grabs as FG announces recruitment for Unity Colleges nationwide
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that the Federal Government announced the plan to recruit 3,500 new teaching staff for Federal Unity Colleges across the country.
The government further revealed it trained over 1,000 workers and constructed 53 vocational centres to meet the skills demands of youth.