The Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Nigeria, Mallam Aliyu Ahmed, today welcomed the Technical Team from Tanzania who were on a learning visit to Nigeria on cost cutting practices for the Purchase and Maintenance of Government vehicles at the Headquarters of the Ministry in Abuja.
Mallam Ahmed during his opening remarks reiterated the Ministry’s commitment and readiness in assisting the team in cutting its government’s running cost in the purchase and maintenance of government vehicles, stating that, it is a significant means of improving government savings.
He noted that, in a situation like this exchange of ideas is a work in progress, adding that, it is a good thing that the team decided to learn from Nigeria which has similar experience, similar culture, similar ideology, and similar policies, instead of going to countries with different ideologies.
He assured the team of the Ministry’s support, adding that, the Ministry’s team will take them through the processes, guidelines, challenges and the way out, hoping that, it will be an interactive session where great ideas will be impacted, and further expressed the Ministry’s best wishes to their authority.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr. Mwendesha Makelemo, an Economist in the President’s Office, Public Service Management and Good Governance, Dodoma, Tanzania, during his briefing said that Tanzania envisions cutting government’s running cost in various operational areas particularly in the purchase and maintenance of government motor vehicles where the cost-cutting strategy can be administered.
Mr. Makelemo disclosed that, the government of the Federal Republic of Tanzania was in the process of preparing guidelines for reducing cost of governance, which is expected to be a significant means of improving government saving which can be allocated in other priority areas to ensure value for money.
He noted that, the government of Tanzania considered it important to learn from the experience and best practices from other countries with similar policies; hence Nigeria was selected amongst the countries identified to have similar policy for the study tour.
He lighted areas of focus which include: Use of vehicles by senior Government officials, Management of Pool Vehicles, Vehicle Maintenance and Fuel Management, Vehicle loan scheme for Senior Government officials, Legal Framework and Monitoring system, Benefits and Challenges of implementation.
The Head of Efficiency Unit, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Nigeria, Mrs. Adebusola Ajiboye in her remarks said that it is a learning visit, adding that, in the course of the learning, no experience is wasted rather it builds.
She added that, learning is a continuous process, which helps and saves for the government of any nation. In attendance at the meeting were some directors of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Nigeria.
