By Ishaya Ibrahim
Former Governor of Anambra State and candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, has advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to go beyond cutting his travel entourage by 60 per cent to reducing overseas trips by the same ratio.
In a post on X, Obi said while the 60 per cent reduction in the size of federal official entourages on travels is one positive step towards the reduction of cost of governance and a way of halting wastage, it is however scratches the surface of the problem because it could only lead to a very negligible savings.
Obi said the government should cut foreign trips by 60 per cent, reduce the overall cost of governance and channel the savings to funding education, healthcare and reduction of poverty.
Hear him: “We are yet to be told how much savings this will amount to. While this modest step may be somewhat commendable, what is desirable should be both a 60% reduction in federal official overseas trips as well as a 60% reduction in the size of delegations.
“Most importantly, what our current economic reality demands is a 60% reduction in the total cost of governance at the Federal level. This implies that the recently passed federal budget needs to be revised to cut all wasteful and unnecessary items. This is the level of cost-cutting and savings that can meaningfully impact the present state of the economy. This level of cut in the cost of government should lead to substantial savings.
“Such savings should be used to fund the productive sectors of the economy and the much-needed social investments, especially in three key areas: education, healthcare, and the migration of millions of Nigerians from poverty.
“Most importantly, it is not enough to announce arbitrary cuts in the size of federal official entourages. The nation needs to be informed of how much the measure will save and where such savings will be applied.
“Our problem as a nation has gone beyond token populist gestures and announcements. We must be informed of the real details of the measures being implemented on our behalf. For a government that has made a hobby of indiscriminate borrowing,the only way to salvage the economy is to drastically cut the cost of government by reducing wasteful expenses and spending on inessential luxury items.”