Much has been said about reducing the cost of governance, but very little has been done about it. For a decade or more, Nigeria’s ruling elite have been consuming 80% of each year’s budget revenue, supplemented with loan funds of over N1 trillion per year. A laughable 20% of available revenue is left for investing in capital projects each year—and most of that money is stolen by the same ruling elite.
Typical is the allocation for education, which is less than the allocation for loan servicing each year!
Even as the crude oil market collapsed from over $110/barrel to $53/barrel, the presidency presented and the National Assembly approved a budget of nearly N5 trillion for 2015, with “recurrent expenses” even higher than last year!
As with the federal government, so with the state governments.
How will Buhari deal with such madness? How is the in-coming APC different from the out-going PDP? Buhari is reputed to be ascetic, disciplined and self-sacrificing in public service. How many of his followers are so? APC is a mix of politicians who had been in opposition to PDP for 16 years and those who were PDP stalwarts until day before yesterday. How many of these politicians are now poised merely to share the money? How many have undergone a Buharian conversion? How many will listen to Buhari when he urges belt-tightening or fiscal discipline for the country’s sake?
The point is that however good Buhari may be, he cannot do it alone. Reform, not to speak of revolution (which is what any effective reversal of the prodigal-son spendthrift habits of Nigeria’s leadership would be) would require a consensus and commitment among Buhari’s colleagues—far beyond anything that Nigeria has ever known.
We live to see.
Whatever the case, below is a “shopping list” of the things Buhari and his colleagues will have to do if they are in earnest about reducing the cost of governance. This list partially answers the question: where does all the money go? Action required is to follow the money, and bring back as much of it as is reasonable. Study the practice of some successful countries—in Asia, Europe and the Americas—copy them and replicate their success. It is a high mountain to climb; but what is the alternative?
Where does all the money go? Here is a partial list of senior public servants (federal & state) whose “recurrent expenditure” consumes 80% of the country’s annual revenue:
Federal Executive: President and 20 special advisers; Vice-President and 8 special advisers
Federal Executive: 44 Ministers, each with 3 or 4 special advisers
Federal & State Judiciary: Chief Justice, Supreme Court Justices, 36 State Chief Judges, judges of Appeals Courts, High Courts, Sharia Courts, Magistrate Courts
National Assembly: 109 Senators (including Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Chief Whip, & Clerk of the Senate), each with 3 or 4 special advisers
National Assembly: 360 Representatives (including Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Chief Whip, & Clerk of the House), each with 3 or 4 special advisers
Chancellors, Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, Registrars, Chairmen & Members of Governing Councils of 233 federal & state universities, polytechnics & colleges of education
28 Federal Ministries with Permanent Secretaries & Directors
86 Federal Agencies with Directors-General, each with 3 or 4 special advisers
36 States: Governor, Deputy Governor, Commissioners, each with 3 or 4 special advisers
36 State Legislatures: 990 members, each with 3 or 4 special advisers
36 State & FCT Ministries with Permanent Secretaries & Directors
774 Local Government Chairmen.
The consumer items of their “recurrent expenditure” include but are not limited to the following:
Accommodation (temporary) for new appointees: food and lodging in 5-star hotel or luxury guest house for 28 days for self and family, paid by public funds, and renewable indefinitely until “suitable” permanent accommodation is found. This could take a year or more.
Accommodation (permanent): fully furnished mansion (or cash sufficient to rent and furnish same), with cook, steward, gardener, security guards, diesel generator, telecommunications & entertainment equipment, entertainment allowance and all operating expenses paid by public funds
Transport: fleet of luxury cars or jeeps with drivers, orderlies and armed escorts, all maintenance and fuelling paid by public funds. (Back in the 1980s, an age that now looks conservative, one university vice-chancellor reportedly had nine official cars)
Travel (domestic & international): “first class airfare, accommodation, and feeding” plus “estacode” on official trips, and on private trips for self, spouse and children, paid by public funds.
What is to be done?
Reduce number of states to 6, following geo-political zones
Reduce NASS to single chamber with 24, 36 or 48 part-time legislators
Reduce Cabinet to 12 Ministers
Reduce civil service by 50%; absorb the rest in private sector agric & manufacturing
Drastically reduce salaries / allowances / cars / travel, etc. throughout federal & state public service
No further debts except to complement available revenue for select priority capital projects and long-term development plans, e.g. in education (buildings & equipment), health (hospitals & equipment), or infrastructure (water, national gas pipeline network, road & rail network, underground sewage network), etc.
