Peter Obi Lectures Tinubu How To Reduce Cost of Governance

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Mr Peter Obi has a lecture for president Bola Tinubu, on how to reduce the cost of governance.

He says the president could actually effect such a reduction by as much as 60 per cent, and not merely by him, reducing travel entourages.

Peter Obi famed for his financial frugality, availed the president the lecture in a statement on his verified X handle on Wednesday. 

“The just announced 60% cut in the size of federal official entourages on travels is one positive step towards the reduction of cost of governance and a way of halting wastage.

“But this 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.

“While this modest step may be somewhat 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.

“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.”

Describing it as “just scratching the surface” the LP presidential candidate asserted that savings thereby would not amount to much.