The nation may have to pay the newly appointed ministers’ housing allowances to the tune of N343.25 million annually.
The Federal Government would spend N1.37 billion on housing for the 45 ministers-designates with that yearly budget over the course of four years.
The allowances are based on data gathered from a document received from the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission’s website.
It includes housing allowances (200 percent of base pay), domestic staff wages (75 percent of base pay), utility payments (30 percent of base pay), and furnishings allowances (300 percent of base pay).
Furniture allowance is often provided just once every four years, unlike other allowances that are distributed on a regular basis.
The portfolios of his ministers were just revealed by President Bola Tinubu.
It was noted that the names of a former governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, a former national women’s leader of the All Progressives Congress, Stella Okotete, and a ministerial nominee from Taraba State, Danladi Abubakar, were absent from the list acquired by our correspondent in Abuja.
Prior until now, the Senate has delayed confirming the three due to security procedures.
13 of the nominees on the list our correspondent got were appointed as Ministers of State, and some new ministries were also established.
The following list of ministers and their titles is available. Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and the Digital Economy; Ishak Salako, Minister of State, Environment, and Ecological Management; Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy; Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power; Tunji Alausa, Minister of State, Health and Social Welfare; Dele Alake, Minister of Tourism; Lola Ade-John, Minister of
Others include David Umahi, Minister of Works; Doris Anite, Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment; Uche Nnaji, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology; Nkiruka Onyejeocha, Minister of State, Labor and Employment; Uju Kennedy, Minister of Women’s Affairs; Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development; Abubakar Momoh, Minister of Youth; Betta Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Allevi
Hannatu Musawa, the Minister of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy, Muhammad Badaru, the Minister of State for Defense, Bello Matawalle, the Minister of State for Education, Tanko Sununu, and the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, are also listed.
With 48 nominees, Tinubu set a record for the most ministerial positions to be filled in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic (1999 to the present). Experts predicted that this would make the high cost of governance even worse.
The 42 individuals selected by the President’s nominees in 2019 were five more than those chosen by his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
Before the Senate could confirm them as ministers, Tinubu originally proposed 28 people. A further list of 19 nominees was also given by the President, bringing the total number of potential cabinet members to 47.
Maryam Shetty, a ministerial nominee from Kano State, was instead replaced by Dr. Mariya Mahmoud Bunkure, also from Kano State, after Tinubu withdrew his nomination. Festus Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria from Delta State, was also listed by him as a candidate for screening.
Buhari appointed 36 ministers during his first term, rising to 42 during his second.
In 2011, the then-president Goodluck Jonathan nominated 33 people to serve as ministers in his cabinet, nine of them were from the Umar Yar’Adua administration.
Yar’Adua appointed a 39-person cabinet in 2007 that was made up of 32 men and 7 women.
Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president, appointed 42 ministers when he took office in 1999. However, after reviewing his cabinet, he reduced the number of ministries and ministers to 27 and 40, respectively, before he left office in 2007.
Tinubu has already eclipsed Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan, and Buhari to designate 48 potential ministers, setting a new record since the nation returned to democracy 24 years ago. This is despite efforts to lower the expense of governing.
The overall number of ministers has decreased to 45, albeit this is still more than in past administrations, as the three are still awaiting approval.
TheNigerian discovered that each minister is entitled to a housing allowance of N4.05m, a domestic staff allowance of N1.52m, a utilities allowance of N0.61, and a furniture allowance of N6.08m, which is paid once every four years.
Each minister of state is entitled to an annual housing allowance of N3.92 million, a domestic staff allowance of N1.47 million, a utilities allowance of N0.59 million, and a furniture allowance of N5.87 million.
An study of the numbers revealed that each minister is anticipated to receive a total of N7.7 million yearly, while each minister of state is anticipated to receive a total of N7.45 million annually.
In four years, each minister receives N30.8 million, while each minister of state receives N29.8 million.
The 32 ministers will cost the nation approximately N985.6 million in total, while the 13 ministers of state would use roughly N387.4 million over the course of four years.
The 45 ministers will consequently cost the nation N1.37 billion in total over the course of four years.
With requests for a decrease in the cost of governance, the number is anticipated to rise after the approval of the three outstanding ministerial nominees.
Prof. Akpakpan Edet, a professor of economics, had claimed that adding more ministers was superfluous and would raise government expenses.
What they did is risky, he declared. We have been griping for a very long time about the expense of government. We took a look at how many institutions they had, after which we recommended that the government scale back its operations. But even if they did, there were a lot of overlaps. Talking about 48 ministers right now is absurd.
“It follows that they will make governing even more expensive. We don’t need this many ministers at this stage of our democracy; you can combine the ministries and yet accomplish the same goals. We require a more efficient but leaner government.
Deborah Oluwagbenga, an economist, added that Nigeria’s financial situation did not allow for the employment of numerous ministers.
Let’s not overlook the fact that this nation has a significant debt load; the best course of action is to lower the expense of governing. If the President is selecting this many assistants, he is already setting the stage for governors to follow suit.
“This won’t advance the nation’s economy and could ruin it. At this point, our focus should be on finding ways to save costs while maximizing the utilization of resources in areas that require improvement. We can’t carry on like this.
