By Blessing Chinagorom
The 2023 Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi has criticized the 60 percent cut in Federal Officials entourages on travels announced by the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday.
Obi who reacted to this development on his social media platforms Wednesday said the just announced 60% cut in the size of federal official entourages on travels is one positive step towards reduction cost of governance and a way of halting wastage.
He added that such measure is just scratching the surface as it is limited in scope and can only lead to a very negligible saving. “We are yet to be told how much savings this will amount to”, the former Anambra State Governor said.
Tinubu in a statement released by his aide on Tuesday slashed the number of people accompanying him on local and foreign trips by 60 percent to reduce cost of governance which also affected the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima and his wife, the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
Stating that henceforth, only 20 people will accompany the President on foreign trips and five each for the VP and First Lady and on local trips, the President will have a 25-man entourage, 15 for VP and 10 for First Lady.
The President also directed that his security personnel be heavily reduced during visit to states in Nigeria as the security architecture in the states he is visiting would take charge of his personal security while warned that any minister or public servant that violates this directive would be sanctioned.
The Labour Party Presidential candidate pressed further that while this modest step may be somehow 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.
He said, “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”, he stated further.
He emphasized that the nation’s problem has gone beyond token populist gestures and announcements. “We must be informed of the real details of the measures being implemented on our behalf”, Peter said.
The ex-Governor added that 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.