PROPOSED PAY CUT OF POLITICAL OFFICE HOLDERS SALARIES: ASCSN PERSPECTIVE

INTRODUCTION

On its face value, the much-advertised decision of the Presidency to slash the salaries of political office holders as part of measures to shore up the economy in the face of deepening global economic depression, will necessarily elicit jubilation.

Yet, given the antecedent of our political elite with its penchant for shenanigan, there is a great deal of wisdom in restraining ourselves from prematurely joining the celebration party until the nitty-gritty of the policy is made manifest.

After all, when the top brass of the ruling class itself subtly coerced the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to jack up the emoluments of political office holders by more than 400 percent including approving a whopping 300 percent terminal benefits for them at the end of their four-year tenure in an economy where most citizens live below one dollar per day, it was crystal clear that this was certainly not a gathering of statesmen but a motley crowd of self-serving pillagers

At any rate, since the mouth-watering perquisites of political office holders were beefed up in the first instance, as we were told, to insulate them from corruption, does it not logically follow that if these perks are reduced, they will react with vengeance and consequently descend on the annual budgets to continue to massage their insatiable appetite?

Besides, coming on the heels of the demand of civil servants for upward review of their salaries  and allowances to be in tandem with what had been done to political office holders and judicial officers, is the planned cut of political office holders emoluments a preemptive attempt to abort the demand of the unions in the public services?

CORRUPTION AND DEVELOPMENT

It was our view that if the economy is to be improved upon, the reduction of salaries and allowances of public office holders might not provide the needed finance for the bail out since the proportion of what will be retrieved from them and ploughed back to the various public treasuries might be infinitesimal apart from the fact that the pay cut could trigger off more sharp practices among politicians desperate to maintain the ostentatious life styles they have embraced.

If there is nay need for sacrifice, we have no doubt whatsoever that in spite of what may appear as a conclave of corruption quagmire, the Nigerian political terrain still harbours some conscientious politicians who will freely indulge in self-denial in the public interest instead of the Presidency stampeding every political office holder into a pay cut project that will be counter-productive in the long run and which may well be a mere ploy to play to the gallery.

The Government may, therefore, wish to tighten the noose on corruption by ensuring that billions of naira that had been siphoned are recovered and returned to the public tills while those involved are persecuted and jailed to serve as deterrence for others. Similarly, the Government itself should show some example by refraining forthwith from entering into dubious “plea bargaining” with indicted politicians by asking them to refund a minute fraction of their loots and thereafter allow them to walk away into freedom.

In our view, it is also a travesty of the war against corruption for the Government to continue to reward those with high corrupt profiles that constitute national embarrassment by deploying them to multi-million naira earning parastatas1 to continue the plunder of our national patrimony.

INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE AND SOCIAL AMENITIES

There is no doubt that if the existing infrastructure and social amenities are improved upon, the economy will receive some boost for increased productivity which will ensure that many Nigerians will engage in active economic activities instead of jostling to enter into politics that has become the only flourishing enterprise and a gateway to entering into the millionaire club making political space a hub for violent competition.

Towards this ends, the Government might wish to invest and reinvigorate a credible energy sector so as to stimulate the economy. Consequently, we advise that billions of naira that have been earmarked for the purchase of generators should be redirected to explore all the various sources of alternative energy that will boost the national economy. It is highly regrettable that $USA 16 billion was said to have been put in the energy sector and yet we have not been able to add one megawatt of electricity to what we had a decade ago. In fact is our political class telling us that they are locusts?

Additionally, the refineries that have remained comatose for years must be refurbished and new ones built so that we can free ourselves from depending on importation of petroleum products, and endless tales of fuel subsidy removal.

There is also the need to diversify the economy, invest in agriculture, manufacturing, etc in order to create jobs for the teeming millions of able bodied youths most of whom are graduates of higher institutes but who having no means of livelihood and recruited to engage in all manner of malfeasance including political thuggery to keep body and soul together.

The government should also realize that it is its social responsibility to guarantee life and property, provide social amenities such as potable water, good road networks, decent and affordable housing, effective healthcare delivery system, free education, etc, to make life meaningful for the citizens as is the case in other modern societies including those with less natural endowment and that the essence of governance is not only to  guarantee good life for political office holders and their retinue of hangers-on.

Above all, the much-taunted reforms in the electoral process should be genuine enough to assure Nigerians that henceforth, their votes will count and that political brigandage has become part of our sordid political past.

Signed

Solomon A. Onaghinon Esq.

Secretary-General