The process leading to the inauguration of a tripartite committee to fix a new minimum wage, has further exposed the dark side of the government in the use of resources. A leaked memo which originated from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, showed President Bola Tinubu’s approval of N500 million for the launch, in the face of blistering hyper-inflation, waves of public protest over hunger and ravages of misery across the country. The action is as reckless as it is feckless.
How the money was spent, as public funds, should be fully explained. If renting a hall for the inauguration of the 37-member committee was the reason for the expenditure, the 50-seater banquet hall in the Presidential Villa, built with N2.2 billion by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, or the International Conference Centre, Abuja, should have served the purpose. There is abundant evidence of a streak of profligacy or abuse of public funds since the Tinubu administration assumed office on 29 May, 2023. This runs against the grain of his Renewed Hope mantra.
Leadership during a time like this requires the demonstration of personal example, self-sacrifice and prudent management of public resources, to convey a strong message to the people. As a test, the president has so far failed it. His often claims that whatever decision he has made since assuming office “has been done in the best interest of the country” does not fly at all, in view of the N500 million at issue. Why its request was cloaked in secrecy says it all. Now that the approved sum “did the job,” it is curious why the SGF asked for N1 billion in the first place for such a small committee. The whole drama is provocative and most insensitive at a time when most Nigerians are groaning under the pangs of hunger and inability of families to make ends meet, due to Tinubu’s subsidy removal and floating of the naira – two policies not moored on tested implementation strategies.
The street protest in Kano, penultimate week, over endless increases in the cost of living is spreading like wildfire; and places like Minna, Lagos, Osun, Benin, Ondo, Port Harcourt and Sokoto have caught the contagion. More cities are likely to be rocked by it with the National Bureau of Statistics’ latest report that food inflation in January peaked at 35.41 per cent. The headline inflation rate was 29.90 per cent. A bag of rice, which sold for N35,000 barely a year ago, went for N75,000 last week. In Imo State, a bag of cement has increased to N14,000 in a place like Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area. Besides, food, building materials, medicine, transport fares and basic services are beyond the reach of the average Nigerian. The trend now is that a new day has a new price for every commodity in both urban and rural areas.
In this context, it beggars belief that a government that demands of citizens to make sacrifices, or tighten their belts, would loosen its own, and indulge in imprudent spending and an ostentatious life-style. It is no surprise that there is growing public distrust in the government.
The Tinubu regime provoked public angst when he submitted a 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly providing for luxury items, which is at variance with the impecunious state of the economy. It contained N13.5 billion for the renovation of the official residences of the president and vice president; and provisions for the legislature, whose members did not waste time in passing it on 2 November. The president’s official residences in Abuja and Lagos attracted N4 billion each; the vice-president’s quarters in Abuja got N2.5 billion and that in Lagos was projected as requiring N3 billion.
It did not matter to the president and the lawmakers that N12.5 billion was allocated to the presidential fleet in a country undergoing fiscal haemorrhage. Operational vehicles in the presidential villa were to be replaced with N2.9 billion and another N2.9 billion was for the procurement of more Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs). The First Lady’s office – which does not constitutionally exist – got N1.5 billion for vehicles. The legislators have splurged N57.6 billion on SUVs, at N160 million for each of them. A yacht payment of N5.095 billion was to be paid for. And in line with the national expenditure outlay, the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, claims to be building a N15 billion “befitting” residence for the vice president.
The president should pause on all this, introspect and wean the government of these garish and reprehensible charges to the public treasury.
In the wake of the withering criticism that attended Nigeria’s 1411-person contingent to the last COP 28 in Dubai, and the associated insensitive spending of N2.7 billion to sponsor 422 delegates to the climate conference, covering airfares and estacode, the president responded with a slash in the number of those accompanying him, the vice president and their wives on official visits. Though it did not go far enough, such thinking should serve as a compass in using public resources in these austere times. The naira has continued its free-fall against the US dollar, with its exchange crossing N1,600 to a $1 at the official market last week. This bespeaks more trouble for the country’s import-dependent economy and the suffering masses.
The president cannot reinvent the wheel in tackling the ills bedevilling the country. Nations face existential challenges which are solved through pragmatic policies and prudence in resource deployment. Confronted by economic crisis, a former President of Malawi, Joyce Banda, in 2013, sold the only presidential jet and a fleet of 60 Mercedes Limousines she inherited from her predecessor, Bingu wa Mutharika. She explained that she had no problem “offloading it (the jet) as I can well use private airlines.” The proceeds were used to provide services to the poor. The inherent message was telling, at a time when the kwacha – Malawi’s currency – had been devalued, just like the naira presently is.
Rather ironically, a Nigerian presidential jet was put at her service when a former First Lady, Patience Jonathan, invited her to Abuja as a Keynote Speaker at a women’s summit. John Kufuor, as former president of Ghana, once sold an official jet, and relied only on the other; and David Cameron, as UK Prime Minister, largely flew in commercial flights. Paradoxically, his country is a member of the Group of 7 (G7) richest countries in the world.
Therefore, Tinubu should cut the presidential fleet. The parlous state of the economy demands this. Already, he has set an unenviable record of having the highest number of ministers at 48, which means more costs in governance, whereas the Joe Biden administration in the United States – which is many times larger and more prosperous – has just 15 secretaries (ministers). With more ministers than even the 1999 Constitution, as amended, prescribes, President Tinubu has negated the imperative of reducing the 541 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government, which the Stephen Oronsaye report recommended. A civil society organisation, BudgIT’s infographics reveal that the number of MDAs in the country has actually risen to 929 presently, according to a media report.
Extravagance should not be the cardinal principle of a government that is fiscally challenged, with citizens bristling for a revolt over food shortages, hunger and privations. PREMIUM TIMES strongly urges an immediate change of the status quo towards a prudent and responsible form of governance, and greater public accountability.
