The 2023 presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has described President Bola Tinubu’s decision to slash the official travel entourage of senior Federal Government officials by 60 percent as a “positive step”.
Obi said this in a statement on Wednesday night which was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale announced the president’s decision while briefing journalists at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday, January 9.
He said the president’s move was a cost-cutting measure.
“The official trips that will be undertaken within the country that is when Mr. President or the Vice President travels to any state within the country, the massive bills that accrued due to allowances and estacodes for security detail coming from Abuja, going and travelling into those states, will be massively cut due to the directive of the President, that the security outfits within states, whether it be police, DSS, or branches of the military, will frontline his protective details when he travels to those states, a major cost-cutting initiative that will affect the Office of the Vice President as well as the Office of the First Lady.
“Additionally, when any international travel is being approved, the following limits have been placed on all ministers of the Federation. Four members of their staff, appointees and the like, will be allowed to travel with a minister on an official trip,” Ngelale said.
Reacting, Obi said the just announced 60 percent cut in the size of federal official entourages on travels is one positive step towards the reduction of cost of governance and a way of halting wastage.
“But this measure is just scratching the surface as it is limited in scope and can only lead to a very negligible saving.
“We are yet to be told how much savings this will amount to. While this modest step may be somewhat commendable, what is desirable should be both a 60% reduction in federal official overseas trips as well as a 60% reduction in the size of delegations.
“Most importantly, what our current economic reality demands is a 60% reduction in the total cost of governance at the Federal level. This implies that the recently passed federal budget needs to be revised to cut all wasteful and unnecessary items.
“This is the level of cost-cutting and savings that can meaningfully impact the present state of the economy. This level of cut in the cost of government should lead to substantial savings.”
The former Anambra governor said that such savings should be used to fund the productive sectors of the economy and the much-needed social investments, especially in three key areas: education, healthcare, and the migration of millions of Nigerians from poverty.
“Most importantly, it is not enough to announce arbitrary cuts in the size of federal official entourages. The nation needs to be informed of how much the measure will save and where such savings will be applied.
“Our problem as a nation has gone beyond token populist gestures and announcements. We must be informed of the real details of the measures being implemented on our behalf.
“For a government that has made a hobby of indiscriminate borrowing, the only way to salvage the economy is to drastically cut the cost of government by reducing wasteful expenses and spending on inessential luxury items,” Obi said.