FG should check such profligacy – Experts
Four top political office holders, who have visited President Muhammadu Buhari in London, where he’s currently taking a rest in the past one month, spent over N56 million on the foreign trips, The Point’s investigations have revealed.
This is apart from costs incurred by their aides, who accompanied them on the journey as well as the cost of maintaining the President’s aides, who are with him in the United Kingdom, as well as the cost of the President’s medical treatment.
Some of the politicians, who had visited President Buhari in the last one month include Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun; Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and the Senate Leader, Sen. Ahmed Lawan, among others.
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission has failed to set a limit to the amount a governor can collect as estacodes (allowance in foreign currencies for foreign trips) and Duty Tour Allowances anytime he’s embarking on a foreign trip, it was learnt.
A highly placed source in the Amosun-led administration in Ogun State disclosed to The Point that the governor could take as much as N40 million when going on a foreign trip. A former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Kalu, confirmed this when he alleged that some governors claimed as much as N35 million as travelling allowance on one trip to the Federal Capital Territory, at the expense of their states.
Also, according to the National Institute of Legislative Studies, the Senate President collects an estacode of N2 million ($1,300), excluding DTA, hotel and flight expenses.
Investigations by The Point further revealed that the third most powerful man in the country flew first class aboard Lufthansa Airline to and from London at N4 million (return ticket) during his visit to President Buhari.
Dogara and Lawan spent N5.5 million and N5 million on estacode and flight (excluding hotel and DTA), respectively, for the same purpose. Experts say that the implication of this may include the possibility of another deep recession, as future political leaders may launch expensive new spending programmes, interest rates may be higher than projected and rising spending and debt will suppress economic growth in coming decades.
For instance, the three aides of the Senate President went with an average of N300,000 each per night as estacode and about N600,000 each to cover flights and other expenses.
The two aides of Dogara collected over N300,000 and N500,000 each as estacode and flight expenses respectively. Also, each of the five aides of the Ogun State governor got about N400, 000 as estacode and about N400,000 as flight expenses each. This is apart from about N45,000 DTA accruable to each of the aides per night. The total expenses incurred by the aides was about N10 million.
Some industry watchers, who spoke with The Point in separate interviews, expressed displeasure, urging the government not to allow such profligacy to continue. To them, political office holders interested in checking on President Buhari in London should spend their personal monies and not taxpayers’ fund, which had already been depleted by some corrupt individuals.
To others, the lawmakers could only show their sincerity, loyalty and patriotism to the country by settling down to the business of law making, rather than travelling around for self-serving purposes.
A lawyer, Tobi Sunmola, argued that the lawmakers had no business in London, when they had work to do in Nigeria. He said, “The Senate cannot make recommendations to the President on how to revive the economy without offering to reduce their bogus and inexplicable allowances and other bloated expenditures.
The current National Assembly lacks the moral authority to comment on reducing the cost of governance. “The principle here is that you first try to remove the speck in your own eyes before removing the wood in someone else’s eyes.
The lawmakers’ allowances generally have been shrouded in mystery and that is the reason they have so much to travel around the world. If they reduce their allowances, of course, Nigerians would stand with them to demand equal responsibility from the Presidency.”
