The appointment of 48 ministers and 20 special advisers by President Bola Tinubu is pricey and callous in the midst of economic turmoil and widespread poverty. While the public must put up with record inflation and general suffering, it is regrettable that the President has not been able to control the cost of top-down government spending.
A bloated cabinet is unusual for an administration dealing with rising headline inflation—which reached 24.08 percent in July and led to the devaluation of the naira—dwindling foreign reserves, and a growing national debt that the Debt Management Office estimates to be 37% of GDP.
While the need that each state of the federation have at least one minister limits the president to a minimum of 36, Tinubu’s cabinet exceeds that of each of his four Fourth Republic predecessors.
Evidently, he broke his vow to appoint a cabinet with a majority of technocrats due to political reasons. Instead, the upcoming Federal Executive Council is heavily biassed in favour of politicians, with no fewer than nine former state governors and other recycled politicians, all of whom have a questionable administrative value and a track record of bad performance in previous public service.
What’s more upsetting is that several of the former governors are the subject of criminal investigations for allegedly embezzling state public cash. One worked as a bagman for the cruel military dictator Sani Abacha, whose stolen billions Nigeria is still retrieving in pieces. All of this dims hopes for reducing costs, delivering effective, responsive governance, or stepping up the fight against corruption.
Beyond bluster, Tinubu has not yet shown a significant desire to start drastic cost-cutting initiatives, and he is on course to create the biggest federal cabinet in Nigerian history. It is improper at this moment to select acolytes and political allies as officials.
State governors and the National Assembly are both worse. The Senate is spending N40 billion on themselves to buy armoured SUVs. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, purportedly planned to spend N9.5 billion to “renovate” certain buildings in Kaduna State, while the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, allegedly ordered four high-end vehicles. In spite of declining tax revenues and mounting debt, governors are amassing armies of staff members.
It is wrong to spend limited money on luxuries and a bloated government when ordinary Nigerians are already making sacrifices. It maintains inefficiency and corruption. Large cabinets are expensive and ineffective at coordinating and making decisions. Additionally, it entails adding people, offices, salaries, and resources. However, fewer members who possess the essential knowledge and passion, along with a determined president, will make all the difference in delivering high-quality governance.
Governments all across the world are implementing lean bureaucracies to run initiatives for the least amount of money with the greatest impact. In order to cut the cost of running its government, India used e-governance. This increased citizen feedback and participation while lowering waste and corruption.
There is a 21-person maximum for paid cabinet members in the United Kingdom, plus the separately paid Lord Chancellor. Reforms made in 2010 resulted in a smaller, more affordable civil service, which increased productivity and allowed for significant cost savings. Canada has implemented a “whole-of-government” strategy to cut down on overlap and redundancy in its federal programmes and services.
The President should balance having a functional cabinet that represents a range of interests with a size that is cost-effective, enables quick decision-making, and facilitates effective policy implementation. He must be sensitive to the suffering of the people and the tight budget of the nation.
