Tinubu Has Largest Cabinet in Nigeria’s History, He Has not Demonstrated Fiscal Prudence — Ex BPSR DG, Joe Abah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Joe Abah, has criticised federal government spending, citing the size of Bola Tinubu’s cabinet and the proliferation of agencies and commissions.

Abah spoke as a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast programme Sunrise Daily.

“The government has not demonstrated that it takes fiscal prudence seriously. We have the largest cabinet in Nigeria’s history. Every day, new agencies and commissions are created. I have always argued that for every new agency we create, we should close at least ten.

“You cannot in good conscience announce an increase in the pay of political office holders when we already have about 50 ministers, countless assistants, special advisers, and technical aides. Nobody even knows the full numbers. It does not create the impression that this is the right thing to do at this time,” he said.

Dr Abah also faulted the proposed review of salaries for political office holders and argued that the move was ill-timed and poorly conceived.

“It is often not enough that something is the right thing to do. Something could be the right thing to do, but if you do it in the wrong sequence, at the wrong time, and in the wrong way, you end up doing more harm than good. My thinking is that the timing is not right, the optics are not right,” he said on Monday.

The ex-BPSR boss pointed to what he described as “great distortion” in the public sector pay system, where officials at the same level sometimes earned different amounts.

He said such issues required “urgent correction” before salary increases could be considered, especially given the approved ₦70,000 minimum wage.