Pro-democracy and human rights organization, the Campaign for Democracy, on Sunday appealed to the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to ensure that the perks attached to political offices, particularly the National Assembly, were made less attractive.
CD President, Pastor Ifeanyi Odili, who described the humongous perks as drain pipes, said, “Subsidy is not the only policy killing Nigeria’s economy. Our national wealth is being misappropriated through wasteful spending, extreme and destructive corruption indulged in by the political classes”.
Odili, who spoke in a statement titled, “Pay National Assembly members sitting allowance, not salary; CD supports Afe Babalola,”made available in Ado Ekiti, said, “For Nigeria to come out of her economic quagmire, we need stringent laws to check corruption and abate corruption permanently”.
The CD president said it was in this wise that the pro-democracy group has joined the founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola SAN, in his charge to President Bola Tinubu’s government to carry out a complete redesign through a constitutional amendment to correct some noticeable political and social imbalances in the system”.
Odili said, “For instance, it is an understatement to site the allowances and salaries of political appointees including those of the state and national lawmakers as palpable and humongous. Till this moment, the Federal Government does not have the boldness and the courage to tell Nigerians the total package payable to these lawmakers because it can be appalling to bear.
“The best advice most valuable to the contemporary economy of Nigeria is that from the beginning of the 10th National Assembly, the federal and the state lawmakers should receive sitting allowances, but not salaries.
“What is paid to these set of political office holders while in office as well as severance packages while leaving office is outrageous and deplorable. It has to stop. All such ‘mis-perks’ should stop if the country is to make progress. We appeal to the Federal Government to ensure that the perks attached to political offices are less attractive,
“On foreign accounts, CD also supports Aare Afe Babalola in his advice for enacting laws prohibiting politicians from having foreign accounts as such accounts aid destructive corruption in the country.
“The monies that should be used to provide job opportunity for our teeming youths who are jobless or to provide other social amenities for the masses are cleverly siphoned to the West – a huge conduit pipe whereof our national coffer is being drained to be starched away in foreign lands,” Odili said.
