BY TIMOTHY AGBOR
Many Nigerians have expressed annoyance after the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, revealed that money had been sent to all senators by the Clerk of the National Assembly to enjoy their holidays.
In a viral video shared on Wednesday morning, Akpabio, while addressing his colleagues before an adjournment motion was moved, said money has been sent by the Clerk of the National Assembly to the senators to enjoy their holidays.
He said, “In order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the Clerk of the National Assembly.”
Immediately he uttered the pronouncement, Akpabio quickly entered into deliberation with his colleagues and thereafter withdrew the statement, saying, “I withdraw that statement.”
Looking dazed, he added, “In order to allow you to enjoy your holidays, the senate president has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.”
Consequently, the revelation has attracted varying harsh reactions from concerned members of the public who criticized the lawmakers and wondered why they could be sharing money when most Nigerians are experiencing hardship.
They took to their social media handles to express their feelings about the development.
One of them, Modeola Odole said, “Nigeria my country. People are suffering, Nigeria senators are sharing money.”
Ade Dave said, “Just imagine. This is the country we all live together. A country where the rich get richer every day and the poor get poorer every day. May God save us from these people.”
Also commenting on the issue, a citizen, Frank Akaba wrote, “He (Akpabio) has sent “prayers” to his colleagues as the “Bishop” of the Senate. While Nigerians are dying in their numbers due to starvation and lack of medicare, our so called “Representatives” are swimming in affluence with public funds while they tell us to ‘sacrifice’, theirs is to live in opulence. They should continue shortchanging the masses; one day will be one day.”
With this revelation, Nigeria’s cost of governance is expected to remain high.
This is seen happening on the back of ongoing political appointments, over bloated civil service, as well as earnings by the lawmakers, despite the introduction of the revised Public Service Rules.
The PSR seeks to cut down government payroll and prune spending.
According to the new rule which was contained in a recent circular by Folashade Yemi-Esan, head of civil service of the federation, a Director at Grade Level 17 (GL 17) or its equivalent is now expected to compulsorily retire upon the attainment of eight years in that position.
This contrasts with the former PSR 020908 which put the mandatory retirement age in service at 60 years or 35 years with the exemption of judicial officers, and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, among others.
Another key provision of the revised PSR includes a tenure system for Permanent Secretaries who will hold office for a term of four years and another renewable term based only on satisfactory performance.
Yemi-Esan had directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies to ensure compliance with the revised PSR.
Consequently, more than 512 directors in the civil service who have spent eight years on the directorate cadre will likely be forced out of the service.
The new policy is also expected to create space for Deputy Directors in the service on GL16 to move up.
On the average, a director on GL 17, which is the highest paying grade on the federal civil service commission reportedly earns about N454, 344 monthly, an amount which does not include other perks and privileges that come with the office.
This figure indicates that if the government is able to effectively implement these reforms, it could save well over N2.8 billion annually on salaries.
