By Ayo Yusuf
Once the president returns from his trip to Guinea Bissau where he was elected the new Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, he is expected to announce a new set of media and personal aides.
Sources say the aides, 20 in all, would complete his retinue of aides which is expected to number about 50. Only last the Senate approved President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s appointment of 20 special advisers following a formal request to the Upper Chamber of the Senate.
Following appeal from the then Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan urging his colleagues to approve the president’s request as swiftly as possible, the Senate swiftly approved the list in order to ensure the nee administration swings into action immediately.
Sources say the new aides would finally complete the president’s media team and make communication a moe seamless affair.
Although the exact names on the list are not immediately available, TheNewDiplomat learnt that at least eight of the names are of known media professionals who are expected to act as special assistants to the President on media, digital and new media, social media, videography, and photography.
Barring any last-minute change, the names are to be announced next week although some of those touted to be on the list are already working with the president in some capacity or other. Their designations May however change as President Tinubu’s Media Officer, Tunde Rahman, may be named the Senior Special Assistant to the President, SSAP, (Media), while Abdulaziz Abdulaziz was being considered as SSAP (Print Media) and Otega Ogara was being tapped for SSAP (Digital/ New Media).
Also expected to be on the list, According to sources, were Tope Ajayi pegged to handle (Media & Publicity), Segun Dada (Social Media), Nosa Asemota (Visual Communication), Sunday Moses (Videography) and Taiwo Okanlawon (State Photography).
*Rising Cost of Governance *
The prospect of another 20 aides to the president has again brought to fore the issue of the rising cost of governance. Between the executive and the legislative arm, the number of aides is expected to rise to a whopping 5000.
The President is expected to announce his list of at least 36 ministers soon, each of whom will also have their retinue of aides numbering three or four.
As for the National Assembly, NASS, where both the Senate President and the Speaker are traditionally known to have at least 150 aides between them, the complete list of legislative aides to members of the National Assembly, NASS, may end up to be over 2, 563.
Specifically, the Senate is made up of 109 members while the House of Representatives has 360. Each of these 469 members are supposed to have between three and five aides, all paid for by the Federal Government.
Since 1999, the number of appointees by the members of NASS and their burgeoning salaries and emoluments have been been an issue of concern to Nigerians, especially given what it costs taxpayers to maintain them.
With the size of its membership, aides, allowances, office furnishings and official vehicles, NASS is one of the institutions that consume a huge portion of the national budget annually.
This is especially galling at a period when the government has removed all kinds of subsidies and plans to raise electricity tariffs, leading to high cost of living, in addition to 22.41 percent inflation, decreased Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, acute unemployment rate and high debt portfolio among others.
