“Reduce cost of governance”- Economist tells Tinubu

An economist, Prof Akpakpan Edet has said Nigeria is toeing the path of running a government that is beyond it’s financial capacity.

Prof Edet was reacting to the recent unveiling of President Tinubu’s ministerial designations.

Speaking to newsmen in a recent interview, Prof Edet said the increase in the number of ministers was unnecessary and would escalate the cost of governance.

He said, “What they have done is dangerous. For a long time, we have been complaining about the cost of governance. We looked at the number of institutions that they had and then said the government should reduce them. And they did, but there were so many overlaps. To now talk of 48 ministers doesn’t make sense.

“The implication is that they will further increase the cost of governance. At this level of our democracy, we don’t need this number of ministers; you can merge the ministries and still get the functions delivered. We need a leaner but very effective government.”

Since after President Tinubu sent the list of his ministerial nominees to the senate for screening and approval, concerns have been raised over the number of Ministers the president intends to have in his cabinet.

An eventual naming of nomenclatures for the minister designates has led to even more worries as the president sets a record for the highest number of Ministers in an administration since Nigeria’s return to democracy 24 years ago.

Val9ja News earlier reported that an NGO, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has faulted president Tinubu’s decision to create new ministries while calling on the president to explain to Nigerians, the reason behind the scrapping of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

On the heals of a dwindling economy in the country, a report by The Punch reveals that, according to a document obtained from the website of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission, housing allowances for the newly appointed ministers may cost the country about N343.25m yearly.

It says, with such annual allocation, in four years, the Federal Government will spend N1.37bn which will cover allowances for accommodation (200 per cent of basic salary), domestic staff (75 per cent of basic salary), utilities (30 per cent of basic salary), and furniture (300 per cent of basic salary) for all 45 ministers-designates.

But unlike other allowances paid monthly, furniture allowance is usually paid once in four years.

It was also learnt that “each minister is entitled to an accommodation allowance of N4.05m, domestic staff allowance of N1.52m, and utilities allowance of N0.61, alongside furniture allowance of N6.08m, which is paid once in four years.

“Each minister of state is entitled to an accommodation allowance of N3.92m, domestic staff allowance of N1.47m, and utilities allowance of N0.59, alongside furniture allowance of N5.87m, which is paid once in four years.

“An analysis of the figures showed that each minister is expected to get annually a total of N7.7m while each minister of state is expected to get a total of N7.45m annually.

“In four years, each minister gets N30.8m while each minister of state gets N29.8m.

“In total, the 32 ministers will cost the country about N985.6m while the 13 ministers of state will gulp about N387.4m in four years.

“This further means that the 45 ministers would cost the country a total of N1.37bn in four years.” The report revealed.

It also noted that the figure is expected to increase after the approval of three pending ministerial nominees.

President Tinubu had appointed 13 Ministers of State while some new ministries were also created.

The ministers and their designations are as follows Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy: Bosun Tijani; Minister of State, Environment and Ecological Management: Ishak Salako; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy: Wale Edun; Minister of Marine and Blue Economy: Bunmi Tunji-Ojo; Minister of Power: Adebayo Adelabu; Minister of State, Health and Social Welfare: Tunji Alausa; Minister of Solid Minerals Development: Dele Alake; Minister of Tourism: Lola Ade-John; Minister of Transportation: Adegboyega Oyetola.

Others are Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Anite; Minister of Innovation Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji; Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Nkiruka Onyejeocha; Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy; Minister of Works, David Umahi; Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo; Minister of Youth, Abubakar Momoh; Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu; Minister of State, Gas Resources, Ekperikpe Ekpo; Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri; Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh and Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

Also on the list are the Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa; Minister of Defence, Muhammed Badaru; Minister of State Defence, Bello Matawalle; Minister of State, Education, Tanko Sununu; Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa

Tinubu set the record for the highest number of ministerial nominees in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic (1999 to date) with 48, which experts said would likely worsen the high governance costs.

The President’s nominees topped the 42 appointed by his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2019 by five more persons.

In his first term, Buhari named 36 ministers, while the number increased to 42 during his second term.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 named 33 nominees to be ministers in his cabinet, including nine from the Umar Yar’Adua administration.

In 2007, Yar’Adua named a 39-member cabinet made up of 32 men and seven women.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo initially named 42 ministers in 1999 but reviewed his cabinet to reduce the number of ministries and ministers to 27 and 40, respectively, before he left office in 2007.

Despite calls to reduce the cost of governance, Tinubu has now surpassed Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari to nominate 48 would-be ministers, setting a new record since the country returned to democracy 24 years ago.

However, with the three yet to be approved, the total number of ministers has dropped to 45, which still exceeds previous administrations.

On her part, Deborah Oluwagbenga, also an economist, said that Nigeria was not in a financial state to employ the services of many ministers.

She said, “Let’s not forget that this country is in huge debt and the best way to go is to reduce the cost of governance. If the President is appointing this huge number of aides, he’s already laying a foundation for governors to do the same.

“This is not developmental and can crush the economy of the country. What we should be looking at this time is to ensure that we reduce our expenses and try to make good use of what we have in areas that need adjustments. We cannot continue like this.”

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