13th August, 2015
Eromosele Ebhomele
Nigerian lawmakers, both at the federal and state Houses of Assembly, must do everything to either cut their pay or reduce how they spend government money while performing their official duties, a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, Mr. Maruf Tijani, has said.
Tijani said this on Wednesday as a lecturer during a training session organised by the Lagos State House of Assembly for its staff.
According to the accounting expert who is also the Director of Accounts of the Assembly, the lawmakers must begin to live prudent lives, travel on economy class instead of the usual first and business classes which they travel in on official engagements.
The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is currently doing working on shoring up the revenue base of the country as well as plugging all holes and conduits of looting and other forms of corruption.
Tijani, who said the lawmakers cannot alienate themselves from the current economic downturn of the country, said they would show their seriousness to serve the country and their states if they decide to assist the government of the federation and the various states resolve their revenue challenges.
He noted that since the President and the Vice President of the country, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, have reduced their salaries, no sacrifice should be too much for legislators to make as representatives of the people.
“The legislature should therefore be at the forefront of the campaign for scaling down of overhead cost across board.
Sacrifice for political office holders will help free up resources that could be channelled to infrastructural development to promote economic growth and development,” Tijani stated.
Speaking on the topic: ‘Dwindling Economic Fortunes: Strategy For Sustainable, Efficient and Virile Legislative Assembly’, he also said lawmakers in some Houses of Assembly have now commercialised oversight functions adding that this must stop.
According to him, such commercialisation of committee works result in corruption and further reduces government revenue and endanger the system they are meant to protect.
Tijani added that a virile legislature would exercise its functions as stipulated by the Nigerian constitution and enable lawmakers to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution of government duties.
“This is the time the House should expedite action on the ‘Sun Set Bill’ which aims at examining MDAs (ministries, departments and agencies) that have outlived their usefulness or not in line with the mandate of the present administration.
“The constitutional and important role given to the Public Accounts Committee cannot be left out in the control of public expenditure.
“The PAC must be alive to its responsibility if we are to survive the lean time.
“Erring MDAs and officials must be sanctioned appropriately to serve as deterrent to others.
“There should not be no any sacred cow in the course of execution of sanction for erring and corrupt government officials even, where members are affected,” he said.
Continuing, the lecturer said: “at the moment, the economic situation is biting so hard in some states in the federation that monthly receipt from the federation allocation has sharply declined.
“Thus a few states governments are able to pay their workers as and, when due, while many others are unable to meet their obligations to their workers,” he said.
Tijani, who said Lagos was fortunate not to be hit by the economic challenges facing the country currently because 70 percent of its revenue is generated internally, urged the state to sustain and improve on the tempo.
He said many residents of the state still evaded tax just as the state Internal Revenue Service is yet to have the full knowledge of taxable adults in the state.
He also said the state must look inwards and boost tourism and agriculture while the lawmakers must be sincere with their duties.
Clerk of the Assembly, Mr. Segun Abiru, who supported the call for lawmakers to cut cost, said that the lecture, the fourth in the series, is aimed at making the staff of the Assembly more knowledgeable of their duties and roles in the development of the state.
“When you look at the functions of the legislature, they are so enormous and if those functions are discharged efficiently and effectively, we will have a better country.
“When we are talking about dwindling economy, I felt that let us look at it and see what we can do about it so that we could improve on it,” he added.
Abiru however denied that the Lagos State House of Assembly was part of the Houses of Assembly that have commercialised their oversight functions as he said corruption must be eliminated from the system.
He further said the Lagos State House of Assembly Legislative Budget and Research Office was being planned to ease budget preparation and implementation in the state.