Former governor of Kano state, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, has said only a God-fearing and courageous leader can work towards reducing the cost of governance in Nigeria.
He posited that those who are saddled with the responsibility to reduce the cost are beneficiaries, hence the reason it is difficult to work the talk.
Noting that Nigeria has 469 members of the National Assembly and 103 standing committees with their retinue and over 500 federal parastatals, some of which are duplication, he posited that it will be a tall order to expect the legislators who are mostly beneficiaries to cut the cost of governance.
Shekarau who was a guest speaker at the 12th Annual Symposium of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), B-Zone, held at De-Distinguished hall, Ido-Osun via Osogbo, Osun state, at the weekend, said it will take a lot of time to amend the constitution.
“Who is to amend it? The amendment begins with the national assembly. Do you think 469 of them will sit down and say cancel two chambers and reduce it to one chamber?
Speaking on “Navigating Nigeria’s Democratic Path Through Constructive Review,” Shekarau said, “Without changing the structural setup, there is no way you can reduce the cost of government.”
“We need a courageous political leader to take it up. I’m looking for a president who will do that. In the Ministry of Education where I was a Minister, we have 23 parastatals.
“The democracy imposed on us by the military is too costly and too expensive. Having been to the National Assembly, I’ve seen the waste which I’m bold to say is my opinion, we do not need two chambers with 469 people. In the Senate, there are 73 committees. Each committee is to supervise about 30 ministries of government agencies. The minimum any Senator will belong to five committees. Some have seven and some have eight.
“Also, in the House of Representatives, they have 130 committees. The same kind of nomenclature in the Senate. If a budget defense is done in the education. The ministry will come to the Senate Committee on Education with bulky papers to defend the budget. The next day, they will move to the House Committee on Education in the House of Representatives to do the same thing with all the bulky papers. Each of the committees has a minimum of seven staff at the secretariat. Every senator and rep member has the entitlement of employing five staff to work for them.
unless we get a Godly-minded leader. You can see many people agitating for a cut in the cost of government. Without changing the structural setup, there is no way you can reduce the cost of government.
“We have over 500 parastatals under the federal government, duplication. For example, what is EFCC, ICPC, and Code of Conduct are doing differently? They are just duplicating.
“The Orosanye report was constituted by Jonathan. Jonathan himself was unable to implement the reports. Buhari came, but he was unable to implement the report and I doubt if Tinubu will be able to do it because once you are there, you are intimidated by the coworkers and political party.
The Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Mutiu Agboke, commended the MSSN for organizing the symposium, saying that government should not end with voting.
“It is an opportunity for us to come and discuss. For example, after you’ve elected people, other challenges and responsibilities must be analyzed.
“There is a need for this kind of conversation to continue. You can hear the lecturer telling people that. Nothing stops you from voting because some people believe that it is ungodly to participate in the electoral process,” Agboke said.
The Zonal Amir of MSSN, B-Zone, Qaasim Odedeji, explained that the theme: Reshaping the Past for the Future,” was carefully chosen to remind the political officeholders of the need to govern with justice and fairness.
“However, one important thing the president must know is that people are groaning as a result of dual policies of removal of fuel subsidy and naira devaluation. Worst still, no workable effort on the ground yet to ameliorate the situation. I want to therefore call on the President to as a matter of urgency fee the purse of masses and do something urgently beyond rhetoric of palliative that goes nowhere,” Odedeji added.