…Says cut of governance should be across board
The National leader of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, has welcomed the decision by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government to implement the Steve Oronsaye report, saying it is in cynic with his own campaign manifesto.
Obi who reacted to President Bola Tinubu’s plan to adopt the report, however, advised against rush implementation “just because those that will be directly affected are mostly civil servants.”
He advised that “A very deep understanding of the workings of the federal bureaucracy will be required to effectively implement the report.”
The former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, noted on his X platform on Wednesday, that he told an audience on October 5, 2022, at Harvard University, that he would implement the Oronsaye report if he becomes president.
He stated that being in opposition does not warrant blind and thoughtless criticism.
“Whenever the government takes the right decision, we should agree and if need be, propose related or even better ideas to move the nation forward,” he added.
The LP national leader described the implementation of the report as one of the best ways to make governance efficient, cost-effective and productive.
“I have always been an advocate of the three critical components of the Oronsaye report, which are: i) drastically cutting the cost of governance; ii) eliminating the overlapping of responsibilities to ensure that responsibilities are appropriately domiciled; and iii) increasing efficiency and effectiveness, which will increase productivity,” he stated.
Obi added that although the implementation of the report is long overdue, the government should go further and cut the cost of governance across the board.
According to him, “Having found it imperative to implement the report, the government should now do away with the bogus and needless wastages of our scarce resources on frivolous issues, and deploy such funds to the critical areas of education, health, and pulling people out of poverty.”
He noted that federal agencies have branches and outreaches in all the 36 states of the country, and called for the understanding of the symmetries between the federal government and other tiers of government, in the report implementation.
“We the political leaders, should be ready to back up such implementation with our sacrifices from comfort and selfishness, for the overall development of the nation.
“In implementing this report, conscious effort must be made to cushion the effects of such a major overhaul on the workers, to avoid driving more people into hardship, in these very challenging times,” he cautions.
Obi expressed worry that the Federal Government has not informed Nigerians the extant white paper pertinent to the report’s implementation.
“Moreover, you cannot ask those who are likely to be affected by the downsizing to manage the process,” he said and challenged the government to tell Nigerians how much to be saved in the implied shrinking of government.
“It should also indicate clearly where and how the saved resources are to be redeployed.
“More importantly, the implementation needs to be accompanied by a template to avoid a future bloating of government. By doing the right things and implementing the right policies, we will build the new Nigeria of our dreams,” Obi concluded.
