Osinbajo says there’s need for national debate on Nigeria’s expensive governance Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/06/osinbajo-says-theres-need-for-national-debate-on-nigerias-expensive-governance/

Osinbajo says there’s need for national debate on Nigeria’s expensive governance ON JUNE 20, 202011:37 AMIN POLITICS Kindly Share This Story:FacebookTwitterEmailWhatsAppPinterestShare The Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has said that there is a need for Nigeria to call for a national debate to look into the numerous issues around the size and cost of its expensive and unsustainable governance. Osinbajo narrated that cutting the cost of governance is something that must be done but it could be difficult for the government to do it by itself. The Vice-President said these while answering questions by a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and immediate past Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi, during a webinar organised by the Emmanuel Chapel, themed, ‘Economic stability beyond COVID-19’, on Friday. Sanusi, who had on Friday last week pointed out that the governance structure in the country had set it up for bankruptcy, asked the vice-president what the current regime would do differently to address the perennial problem. He said “The greater Atlanta (in the United States) has a Gross Domestic Product that is higher than that of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Atlanta is not the richest city in the United States. “I don’t want to be disrespectful, but the annual sales of Tesla exceed the budget size of our country, so should we not begin to cut our coat according to our cloth; should we not begin to look at all these costs and the constitution itself; maybe turn the legislators to part-time lawmakers, have a unicameral legislature instead of bicameral, have the local governments run by employees of the Ministry of Local Government Affairs? We just need to think out of the box to reduce structural cost and make government sustainable over the long term.” READ ALSO: Buhari-Osinbajo five year achievements to be aired on Sunday While responding, Osinbajo said, “There is no question that we are dealing with large and expensive government, but as you know, given the current constitutional structure, those who would have to vote to reduce (the size of) government, especially to become part-time legislators, are the very legislators themselves. So, you can imagine that we may not get very much traction if they are asked to vote themselves, as it were, out of their current relatively decent circumstances. “So, I think there is a need for a national debate on this question and there is a need for us to ensure that we are not wasting the kind of resources that we ought to use for development on overheads. At the moment, our overheads are almost 70 per cent of revenues, so there is no question at all that we must reduce the size of government. “Part of what you would see in the Economic Sustainability Plan also and several of the other initiatives is trying to go, to some extent, to what was recommended in the (Steve) Oransaye Report, to collapse a few of the agencies to become a bit more efficient and make government much more efficient with whatever it has.” He explained that government had been able to cut waste when it detected some ghost workers. The event was attended by other panellists and moderated by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof Konyinsola Ajayi, and Dr Chinny Ogunro. Vanguard Nigeria News Kindly Share This Story:FacebookTwitterEmailWhatsAppPinterestShare Related I stand for fiscal federalism, state police–Osinbajo November 12, 2018 Nigeria is investors’ delight, Says Osinbajo October 9, 2017 Osinbajo, Atiku tango over restructuring September 5, 2018 All rights reserved. This material and any other digital content on this platform may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, written or distributed in full or in part, without written permission from VANGUARD NEWS. Download Vanguard News App.   Technical Feedback: whatsapp 08023469027   READ our Privacy-policy and cookie policy. READ ALSO: Secret relationship is a fraud - Mandy Ujunwa Vanguard PROMOTED A genius from Nigeria found a way to get rid of parasites forever! Read! Detox Arthritis or Joint Pain? Doctor Says Do This First Thing Each… Motion free A genius from Nigeria found a way to get rid of parasites forever! Read! Detox Ned Nwoko shares photo with family in newly acquired private jet APC Crisis: Ajimobi takes over as Ag. National Chairman, to call for NEC meeting ― Spokesman How Buhari tried to reconcile Oshiomhole, Obaseki — Femi Adesina BREAKING: Obaseki resigns from APC DAVID O ROYAL

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/06/osinbajo-says-theres-need-for-national-debate-on-nigerias-expensive-governance/