Olushola Omogbehin
The Federal Government has raised the imprest for ministers for expenses on items as refreshments, office stationery and others to N700,000 per month, as against the rumour of reduction.
An official documents said the adjustment was contained in the 2026 Annual General Imprest Warrant issued by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
A report had emerged that the government has slashed imprest for ministries, departments, and agencies, MDAs.
The report said imprest was reduced for ministers, permanent secretaries/director general, directors/heads of department to N700,0000, N500,000, N300, 000 and N100,000, respectively.
Checks by the TheLeader on the 2026 Annual General Imprest Warrant showed that the imprest was raised, respectively, by 199 and 133 percent to between N200,000 and N400,000.
In the arrangement, ministers are to receive an additional 133 percent imprest expenses rising to N700,000 from N300,000 while Also, directors would get 199 percent extra.
“Imprest was increased for ministers and for others,” he told TheLeader, citing prevailing economic realities as the basis.
This is coming as Nigerian workers battle with a N70,000 minimum wage, which stood at N840,000 per annum.
As a result, Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, has demanded a minimum wage rise to N1 million per month, while the Nigerian Governors Forum proposed N100,000.
