Ex-Aso Rock Chaplain tasks Buhari on cost of governance -

vanguardngr.com

The president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), has been asked to reduce the cost of governance by looking into the remuneration of political office holders and reduce the number of political offices, by the General Overseer of All Christians Fellowship Mission, Rev. William Okoye.

Presidfent-elect, Buhari

Specifically, the former Chaplain, Aso Villa Chapel told him (Buhari) to revisit the Stephen Oronsaye-led Committee’s report on civil service reforms which recommended the scrapping of some agencies for guidance.

Okoye, spoke during an interview with newsmen, in Abuja, said the number of political offices should be pruned down in line with global trends.

“Buhari should focus on eradicating mediocrity in governance which “is usually fuelled by too much consideration on ethnicity, religion, gender and political affiliations. The new dispensation should promote meritocracy”, he couonselled.

“I congratulate Buhari on his historic victory at the polls; his reputation as a statesman committed to eradicating corruption in governance gives Nigerians hope for a better tomorrow.

“I will advise therefore that he concentrates on areas of his comparative advantage to move our country forward, because no one administration can achieve everything it promises. “He should endeavour to reduce the cost of governance by taking another look at the remuneration of political office holders, reduce the number of political offices and revisit the Oronsaye Report on civil service reforms for guidance.

“It is not going to be easy, but that is the cost of leadership. Nigeria is about the most expensive in terms of paying of political office holders and we are not so rich. If other rich countries could cut down their cost of governance, we should do that as well, unless we don’t want to move forward, especially given our present economic challenges.”

Okoye warned the incoming administration against any move to cut down the meagre salaries of civil servants, saying: “Rather, we should look for a way of making them more productive and continue to pay them well.

“In any area that we have many civil servants, we can easily retrain them and send them to areas like the agricultural sector, where we need a lot of hands. Instead of retrenching them, government should retrain them and move them in that direction.”

However, the cleric commended President Goodluck Jonathan for accepting defeat, calling on African leaders to emulate his spirit of sportsmanship to save the continent from crises.