{"id":66650,"date":"2019-05-14T20:40:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T19:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=66650"},"modified":"2019-05-14T20:40:25","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T19:40:25","slug":"reducing-the-cost-of-governance-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/reducing-the-cost-of-governance-in-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"REDUCING THE COST OF GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
_Ejeviome Eloho Otobo and Oseloka H. Obaze_<\/p>\n

Nigeria suffers from democratic overload. Governance expenses are hugely
\ndisproportional to its _developmental_ strides and democracy dividends.
\nThis is reflected in the high recurrent expenditure relative to the
\ncapital expenditure at the federal, state and local government levels.
\nSince the return to civil rule in 1999, the share of recurrent
\nexpenditure in federal budget have hovered slightly above 70 percent and
\naccounted for 78 percentage of 2018 federal revenue. It was not always
\nthus. Nigeria had relatively lean governance structures under first
\ncivilian administration in the post-independence era as well as under
\nthe military regimes, which were marked by conspicuous absence of
\nbloated parliamentary structures. Whilst military regimes are
\naberrations and cannot serve as a useful model for assessing governance
\ncosts, tackling the problem of high cost of governance requires a deep
\nunderstanding of its genesis.<\/p>\n

The prevailing high cost of governance in Nigeria is attributable to
\nboth _structural _and _operational factors_. The_ structural_ factors
\ninclude a pervasive mentality of \u201cnational cake\u201d sharing; the
\nfederalization of several standards, in particular as it relates to
\npayment of wages, salaries and pension entitlements; constitutional
\nprinciples mandating the application of federal character or ethnic
\nbalance; the high level of pensions for some elected officers codified
\ninto law; the huge number of institutions provided in the constitution
\nand several national legislations; the inability of most states to meet
\ntheir recurrent expenditures from internally generated revenue despite
\nfederal government bailout; and the bourgeoning cost of campaign
\nfinancing \u2013 a sectoral expense poised to outpace public administrative
\ncosts.<\/p>\n

There is a myriad of _operationa_l factors in the high cost of
\ngovernance. One such operational factor, especially at the federal
\nlevel, is the large number of MDAs \u2013 ministries, departments,
\nagencies, many with overlapping mandates. Another important operational
\nfactor is the huge expenditure arising from the opaque high salaries and
\nbenefits for members of the national assembly. Comparatively,
\nNigeria\u2019s federal legislators earned more than their U.S., U.K.,
\nGerman, South African and Brazilian counterparts, as evidenced in _The
\nEconomist_ in July, 2013 review of lawmakers\u2019 pay in 29 countries.
\nYet another major operational factor is the large size of the federal
\ncabinet coupled with an equally large number of advisers and special
\nassistants at the federal and state levels.\u00a0 In an effort to address
\nthis issue at the federal level, the Transitional Committee led by Ahmed
\nJoda, which was appointed by then President-elect Buhari in March 2015,
\nrecommended the reduction in the number of federal ministries from
\ntwenty-eight to nineteen. But this proposal was not adopted.<\/p>\n

Still another _operational_ factor is the significant duplication in the
\nestablishment of institutions at the federal and state levels with
\noverlapping functions and with no unique added value at either level.
\nThis can be attributed partly to the constitutional design of concurrent
\nlist of items shared by the federal and state levels.\u00a0 Then, there is
\nthe factor of inflating and splitting of contracts as well as padding
\nbudgets as a means to siphon off public resources for private gain. This
\npractice represents huge opportunity cost to the socio-economic
\ndevelopment of Nigeria.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that Nigeria\u2019s \u201cdemocracy has been described as
\nthe most expensive in the world with minimal evidence in terms of
\ninfrastructure development, poverty level and pace of general economic
\ngrowth.\u201d The disconcerting paradox, is that despite the high cost
\nbeing expended on Nigeria\u2019s governance, she has earned the dubious
\ndistinction of being the poverty capital of the world. Indeed, fewer
\nNigerians are rising above the consumption poverty line, and it\u2019s most
\nunlikely that the newly introduced thirty thousand-naira minimum wage
\nwill help in cracking that ceiling. Whereas GDP growth and rising
\nconsumption are considered validating corollaries of high cost of
\ngovernance, experts warn that \u201cmaking GDP growth and rising
\nconsumption the central objective of public policy\u201d amounts to
\n\u201cself-undermining concept of prosperity\u201d.<\/p>\n

While the number of members of the national Assembly and States\u2019
\nHouses of Assembly may not be easily reduced, their salaries and perks
\ncan. This requires statesmanship and placing national interest above
\nvested interest personal privilege. Whereas section 147 (3) of the 1999
\nConstitution provides for appointing a minister from each state of the
\n36 states, it does not stipulate the number of ministries. The
\nconstitution made no distinction between a Minister and Minister of
\nState: an 18-member cabinet can satisfy the constitutional requirement
\nby having a minister and minister of state appointed to each ministry.
\nSignificant cost savings can also come from abolishing the
\nnon-constitutional post of Chief of Staff in the presidency and the
\nGovernors\u2019 office, with consolidation of the functions around the
\nSecretary to the Government of the Federation and Secretary to the State
\nGovernment. This was the situation that prevailed during the first and
\nsecond civil administrations as well as in a brief period of the Umaru
\nYar\u2019Adua administration. The current number of advisers and senior
\nspecial assistants can also be reduced significantly both at the federal
\nand state levels, with much of their tasks consolidated into relevant
\nline ministries.<\/p>\n

A thorough review of the current structure and functions of ministries,
\ndepartments, commissions and parastatals at the federal and state level
\nis required. At the federal level, such an effort has been made. This is
\nreflected in the findings of The _Presidential Committee on
\nRestructuring and Rationalising of Federal Governmental Parastatals,
\nCommissions and Agencies_. The failure to act on the recommendations of
\nthis panel explains the persisting high cost of governance at the
\nfederal level. Cognizant that constitutionally-created institutions will
\nbe difficult to fold up or merge, the same cannot be said of governance
\nbodies created by decrees or executive fiat. What is needed is the
\npolitical will and commitment to implement the recommendations in that
\nreport and initiate actions on other measures herein proposed. The
\ngrowing resort to borrowing to cover the cost of recurrent expenditure
\nand the increasing debt service burden are warning signals for the
\npolitical leadership at all levels to act fast to ensure that Nigeria
\ndoes not fall off the fiscal cliff and plunge into a debt peonage.<\/p>\n

______<\/p>\n

OTOBO is a Non-Resident Senior Expert at the Global Governance
\nInstitute, Brussels.<\/p>\n

OBAZE is a public policy expert and MD\/CEO Selonnes Consult, Ltd. Awka.<\/p>\n

Links:
\n——
\n[1]\u00a0http:\/\/facebook.com\/ChimaCChristian<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

_Ejeviome Eloho Otobo and Oseloka H. Obaze_ Nigeria suffers from democratic overload. Governance expenses are hugely disproportional to its _developmental_ strides and democracy dividends. 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