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Omoniyi Salaudeen and Daniel Kanu
President Muhammadu Buhari’s rhetorical declaration of his intention to take a review of the prohibitive cost of governance in the country has expectedly set teeth on edge. While some critical stakeholders view the decision as a welcome development, others insist that only a demonstration of genuine political will-power by the administration to cleanse the system of the endemic corruption could get the country out of the doldrums.
This latest declaration may not be unconnected to the dwindling revenue accruing to the Federal Government as well as the pervasive poverty in the country. Nigeria is said to be the largest economy in Africa with a total of $375.8 billion Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but the majority is entrenched in extreme poverty. According to the latest release by Oxfam International, no less than 94 million people are currently living below the poverty threshold of N684 per day, making Nigeria the world capital of poverty. Mr. Constant Tchona, the Organisation’s country Director, capped it all saying, “25 per cent of the world’s extreme poor will live in Nigeria by 2030.”
This is contrary to Buhari’s earlier promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty and set them on the path of prosperity to “fundamentally shift Nigeria’s trajectory and place it among the world’s great nation.”
Part of the reasons for the alarming level of poverty is the concentration of a huge portion of the country’s resources in the hands of a tiny fraction of the population who are public office holders with little or nothing left for provision of social infrastructure.
In the 2020 appropriation bill Buhari presented to the National Assembly, recurrent expenditure is put at N4.88 trillion, while capital expenditure takes a paltry sum of N2.14 trillion and debt service N2.45 trillion. Many analysts have criticized the administration for the lopsidedness, blaming the trend on unnecessary duplications and over bloated government structure. According to available reports, Nigeria currently runs one of the most expensive democracies in the world. This worrisome trend, some stakeholders argue, cannot continue in the interest of the future survival of the country. They, therefore, urged the president to summon the necessary courage to drastically reduce the cost of governance to free the economy from heavy burden of financing over bloated government functionaries.
A renowned Economist, Henry Boyo, speaking with Sunday Sun on the matter, identified corruption as the bane of prohibitive cost of governance in the country, describing it as a conduit pipe for draining public money into individual’s pockets.
He said: “I totally agree that the cost of governance is very critical, but what you add to the cost of governance is the bane of corruption. It is corruption in governance that makes the cost of running government very expensive.
“The cost of governance is probably child’s play compared to the related level of corruption in the country. Higher cost of governance has almost become a symptom of corruption. So, what you see as the high cost of governance is an extension of corruption. We need to sit down and fashion out what to do in terms of transparency in governance and punishment of culprits”
A former governor of the old Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa, also added his voice, saying “You cannot reduce the cost of governance with the present level of stealing, corruption and waste. You can’t cut down the cost of governance without getting rid of the disenabling level of stealing, corruption and criminal waste of resources. The situation in the country is that virtually everybody is a thief either directly or indirectly, willingly or unwillingly. Majority of Nigerians are stealing either willingly or unwillingly. It is becoming almost impossible not to steal.”
On his own part, Chief Martins Onovo, the presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in the 2015 general elections, said “to control the outrageous cost of governance, we must stop all allowances not approved by RMFAC, we must strictly abide by the Auditor General’s advice.”
He blamed the leadership of the National Assembly for pursuing selfish interest at the expense of the populace.
His words: “The leadership is benefitting from it that is why it has remained like that. The Senate will not kick against unlawful allowances going to the presidency since the presidency allows them to enjoy theirs too. You can see, for instance, in the 2020 budget, he (president) gave N125 billion for 469 people in the National Assembly (the Senate and House of Representatives). You can divide N125 billion by 469 persons; you will see that each of them takes an average of about N300 million a year. The cost is outrageous.
“But it is not only in the Senate or House of Representatives that members benefit from this; it is the same thing with ministerial appointments as well as parastatals. The basic salary of the president of Nigeria is about N14 million a year, but the total emoluments run into N400 million every year. That is why the Senators don’t see anything wrong with them earning almost N300 million every year because they know the president’s allowances too. So, if the president touches theirs, they will in return touch the president’s own.
“There is an amount they are supposed to earn according to Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Committee, but they are going outside it and giving money to themselves. They simply allocate money to themselves and nobody is challenging them. And it is unlawful.”
In 2018, Senator Shehu Sani from Kaduna State had revealed that a Senator in the 8th National Assembly received N13.5 million as “running cost” every month. This excluded the N750, 000 monthly salary, N200 million annual constituency allowance and other undeclared allowances. The estimate shows that Nigerian lawmakers earn the highest remuneration in the world.
The Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, Ogun State chapter and former special assistant on political matters to ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr Gbolade Osinowo, suggested, among other things, the adoption of unicameral legislature, streamlining of MDAs as well as reduction of elected legislators in the National Assembly as possible ways of reducing the cost of governance.
He argued: “The high cost of governance in this country is criminal and even makes the political class parasitic. When you look at the number of people involved, they are not up to one per cent of the total population. So, how come they spend such a high percentage on governance? It is unjustifiable and unacceptable. There is a lot of waste in the system. If governance is a service, then cost cannot be so exorbitant. We must find a way of reducing it; otherwise, there will be no fund for development, there will be no funds for infrastructure.
“Already, there is Orosanye’s commission report which tries to streamline Ministries, Departments and Agencies to minimize duplication and wastefulness. I don’t think this government has taken a look at it. I am not sure we need a bicameral legislature. What do we need a Senate for? What is it they are doing that the House of Representatives cannot do? We even need to reduce the number of lawmakers in the House of Representatives. We cannot continue as we are doing. We must have a drastic reform of the system. Otherwise, as the population grows, we will get into serious trouble.”
Also, Senator Gbenga Obadara, who represented Ogun State Central Senatorial District between 2011 and 2015, expressed the same view, saying: “The cost of governance is getting increasing by the day and we keep borrowing to fund it. Definitely, it is more sensible for us to look at it and find a way of cutting it down. We need to grow our domestic democracy in a way that will suit our economy. It will not be a bad idea to streamline some of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies. We are bleeding as a nation. Everything has to be done to holistically cut down the cost of governance in this country. We cannot continue like this as a nation.”
Similarly, the National Chairman of the UPP, Chief Chekwas Okorie, in his own submission, tasked the Buhari administration on the need to prune down the number of aides attached to government functionaries as well as unwieldy Ministries, Department and Agencies in order to minimize duplication of functions and waste of resources.
He said: “Everybody agrees that we are running a very bloated government at all levels. But the thing is that cutting down the cost of governance may require a very careful approach because some people are looking at reducing the number of civil servants, which may even create a serious problem. I will rather like to see the National Assembly come up with legislation that will prune down the number of aides, the number of Ministries, Departments and Agencies. At present, the number is too much. I watched their debate on this issue, none of them made mention of sacrifices the National Assembly would make. They were only talking of sacrifices other people would make. And for me, National Assembly is a drain pipe on our recurrent expenditure. As a matter of fact, I won’t be surprised if they go ahead to increase their budget allocation.”
This suggestion is in consonance with the position of the Acting Chairman of RMAFC, Shettima Abba Gana, who called for reduction of the cost of governance in the country.
The RMAFC boss, who made the call during the recent National Policy and Development Summit in Abuja, stated that the cost of governance could be minimised by reducing the number of political appointees and aides.
Other factors that are responsible for the high cost of governance, according to him, include high cost of public delivery due to infrastructure failure, high security costs due to insurgencies, kidnappings, ethno-religious agitations, armed robbery, multiple salaries, extravagant activities and expenditures, high domestic and foreign debts and weak enforcement institutions.
Gana was of the opinion that the cost of governance could be reduced by merging and rationalising government agencies with similar functions and adhering strictly to approved remuneration of political and public officeholders.
According to him, unwieldy cabinet, large retinue of aides, huge number of official cars and other perks, extravagant expenditures, corruption and humongous severance allowances are obvious burdens waiting for review.
The renewed agitation for a review of governance is coming on the heels of negotiation by the organized labour for a minimum wage of N30, 000 per month.
In 2012, the Oronsaye panel had recommended the scrapping of 102 statutory agencies (due to duplications), and the merger of 42 other MDAs.
But successful governments failed to heed the advice. Now that Buhari has indicated the interest to look into the cost of governance, stakeholders are unanimous in urging the president to take the bull by the horn.
