…10 Commissioners Enough Per State
As the revenue to the states continue to dwindle, radical Lagos Lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has warned that more states of the Federation will soon collapse unless urgent and drastic steps are taken to cut down substantially the increasing cost of governance at all levels.
Speaking exclusively to The New Diplomat in Lagos, Falana lamented that it is not only Osun State that is facing severe economic paralysis, but ‘’ states like Benue, which have not paid workers salaries for 14 months, have simply collapsed.’’
According to him ‘’Bayelsa is also in deep financial trouble and every state has to sit up and be more productive, otherwise they will simply all collapse.’’
He said: “Everybody has to sit up. The states must be productive. There is no reason why each state should have more than 10 commissioners and other related aides like advisers and so on. Just cut down to 10 commissioners. Then make the civil service very productive. For example, the Ministry of Agriculture should be doing things like Agricultural extension. The Ministry of Works should have a department of Public Works which should fix the roads rather than awarding bogous contracts. We all have to go back to the basics. Having done that, you have to get the Ministry of Lands to register all land titles, etc. Part of the problem is that people at the very top are taking too much.’’
Falana, spoke against the background of The New Diplomat Economic Intelligence Desk’s investigations into receipts and accruals to the 36 states of the Federation since May 29, 2015 when the present Administration came on board.
Falana also canvassed the total scrapping of either the Senate or the House of Representatives ‘’because there is no sense keeping two chambers of the National Assembly.’’
He added, ‘’What is the Senate doing now? Why must we have two chambers of the National Assembly? There is need to cut down the cost of governance. I think we can do away with the Senate…’’
He added further, ‘’ Why should a former governor be receiving salaries while in the Senate? There are people taking double salaries which is against the law. Talking about the states, you discover that no state is debating its budget. In fact, in Ekiti State, Fayose passed its budget by himself. Look at a state like Cross River, appointing endless commissioners and aides. Where will you get money? At the end, the state spends 74% of its budget on recurrent expenditure with nothing left for capital projects.’’
