According to Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) for 2023, Nigeria must cut its government expenditures by 60%.
President Bola Tinubu’s decision, according to Obi, to lower the expense of the Federal Government’s official entourage when traveling is just the tip of the iceberg.
He questioned why the administration had not revealed the amount that will be saved as a consequence of the cut.
Tinubu had promised on Tuesday that government officials’ travel expenses will be cut by 60%.
Ministers, First Lady Remi Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and his entourage were also impacted by this cut.
Reacting, Obi posted on X:
“The just announced 60% 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.”