By Alaba Olusola Oke
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Dr Olumuyiwa Adu, has advised President Bola Tinubu to reduce the cost of governance by cutting down the earnings of political appointees instead of bogus palliatives.
Adu, who made the advice while speaking to newsmen on Sunday in Akure, said that high cost of governance continued to hinder the progress in the management of the country’s treasury and economy.
He stated that the cost of governance in Nigeria was exceptionally too high.
APC chieftain, who expressed disgust at the high cost of things in the country said only a small number of political elites are gaining from the situation and they have demonstrated little concern for the welfare of the people.
Adu, an Akure born-politician and legal practitioner, explained that since Tinubu had affirmed his interest in making progress in the management of the nation’s economy, the president should be prepared to cut the cost of governance.
According to him, financial excesses from political office holders have continued to stall the development of the country.
The APC chieftain said that the economic crisis rocking the nation had been worsened by the removal of the fuel subsidy, adding that government should prioritise access of poor and vulnerable Nigerians to basic socio-economic rights and dividends rather than the rich.
He argued that the suspended N8,000 palliative measure would not have solved the problems of many suffering Nigerians facing the astronomical rise in the prices of essential commodities and cost of living.
“Except we sit down and think about the allocation of our wealth in this country and distribution of our resources, we can never get it right. If they like, let them begin to give N50,000 to every family in this country, we can’t get out of the problem.
“We are all aware of what is obtainable in the public service, imagine a situation where somebody that on the highest grade level in public service and has worked for over 30 years, yet he’s not earning up to N500,000 per month.
“And you elect somebody to a place where he is supposed to formulate policies for the society to be good, you are paying him N20 million in a month, we can’t get it right except we cut the cost of governance.
“So, let us bring ourselves back to the basics. Develop our resources with that money and develop our infrastructure or use it to bring about good education into the system,” he added.
The APC chieftain pleaded with Nigerians to support the administration of President Tinubu, which he said, would grow and develop the economic base of the country with its renewed hope to the people.
He, however, explained that it was too early for Nigerians to start assessing the government with complaints, adding that he was optimistic that the president would perform far better than his processors in office.
According to him, the government of 19 or 20 years ago, worked under different parameters that could be judged from indices and the situation in the entire world today is different from what it used to be then.
“There was no benchmark to assess the performance of any government.
“ This government just came in and it has not even appointed ministers. It Is yet to know what is obtainable in most of these ministries for it to be able to sit down and see all the executive policies we need to formulate to enable them to perform as executives.
“So, it’s too early to begin assessing the government but so far so good, from what he’s doing now the president is going through a sustainable way of approaching the problems of this country. Of course, it won’t come without pains,” he stated. (NAN)
