FG announces halt to funding professional bodies and councils

The Budget Office of the Federation has announced that budgetary allocations will no longer be made for professional bodies and councils, with effect from January 2024.

According to the budget office memo dated June 26, 2023, to the Nigerian Council of Food Science and Technology (NiCFoST), the Presidential Committee on Salaries (PCS) approved the “discontinuation of budgetary allocation” to “professional bodies and councils.”

The trending memo was signed by Ben Akabueze, Director General, in the Budget Office of the Federation Ministry of National Planning.

According to him, the discontinuation of budgetary allocation was the outcome of the 13th meeting of Presidential Committee on Salaries, which approved the new policy.

“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 31 December 2026, to be fully responsible for your personnel, overhead, and capital expenditures,” the letter stated.

There are at least 36 professional associations or councils in Nigeria. Some of them like the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, are funded by the Federal Government.