Muyiwa Adetiba
We all probably have read of the incident in various forms during the past couple of weeks – as news, analyses, opinions and even social media jokes. I am talking about the Freudian slip of the President of the Nigerian Senate when he said money would be sent to the accounts of lawmakers so they could ‘enjoy’ their short legislative break. When prompted during his ill-conceived speech that he forgot to ‘off his mike’ and that because of this, his audience was far larger than those he was purportedly addressing in the hallowed chambers, he tried to walk himself back.
Unfortunately, he did it in a way that betrayed not only a vacuous mind, but also an insensitive heart. In a country where the citizens are struggling to weather the harshest economic climate in years, the Senate President could only think to walk back his ‘faux pas’ by joking that prayers would be sent instead to the email addresses of his fellow legislators. Since the ‘famous speech’ which has added more dirt to the already soiled garment of the legislators went viral, not even an acknowledgement has been made to the best of my knowledge, of the bad timing of his careless statement to a people struggling to pay bills.
Therefore, no concession has been made let alone an apology. This was the same man who had earlier joked about President Tinubu’s statement of ‘letting the poor breath’ at the floor of the same Senate. It not only appears that this top Senate job is beyond his intellectual depth, it is also looking like it is beyond his emotional grasp. This man who is supposed to supervise legislations for the average Nigerian lives in a cloud of the rich and does not seem to have any emotional connections whatsoever with the common man.
Figures ranging from two million to ten have been bandied as the amount which found its way to the accounts of each of the legislators for ‘family enjoyment’. The same National Assembly has also budgeted billions of naira for bulletproof and such luxury vehicles that should make them perform their legislative duties effectively and in style. Again different figures in billions of Naira have been mentioned – a bullet proof SUV is said to be in the region 250 to 300 hundred million Naira. It is instructive to state that nobody knows for sure how much the country spends on the National Assembly.
For a body tasked with oversight functions which should make the Executive more financially accountable, it is doing a very bad job of making itself accountable to the people that elected its members to office. If you asked me, I would say the opaque nature of how much a part-time Legislator’s total annual package is seems to be deliberate. The National Assembly is probably embarrassed by the amount of tax payers’ money that is expended towards keeping that section of our democracy working. In the USA from where we borrowed the concept of Executive Presidency, every cent that a Senator earns is known to the public.
The amount, including remunerations, fits smugly with what obtains as living wages in other sectors of the US economy. It is known that some Senators share apartments, while some sleep in their offices. Those who can, commute from their homes; all in a bid to cut costs. But our Senators are big men who find such parsimonious lifestyles beneath them. Many of them are former Governors and CEOs who feel they must continue to live in the opulent, free-wheeling style to which they have become accustomed. It is irrelevant that many of them have been living off the State since their first jobs; some even before then.
Inside the Red Chamber at the time its president made his insensitive and badly timed comments, were members of at least four political parties. Some got elected by condemning the cost of governance and the waste in the system. Yet, not one voice has objected to the ‘short break’ allowance that their President promised and delivered. Not one objected to the budget for exotic cars. They are all united in money. And in the twenty-four odd years since we started our second democratic experience, a potpourri of people had found their way to the National Assembly.
We have had people across gender, age and religion. We have had social and political activists. We have had neophytes and seasoned politicians. We have people from different geo/political backgrounds. As diverse as the members had been over the years, one thing that unites them is love of money as opposed to love of country. Politics might divide them; religion might divide them; tribe might put them asunder; but money and more money will always unite them. Every year, the budget for the National Assembly gets bigger even as the resources available to the country gets leaner and the people they are supposed to represent get poorer.
Beginning with this nascent administration, we the people, led by Labour and Human Rights Organisations must begin to demand a greater transparency in governance. We need to scrutinize the Aso Rock and NASS budgets to determine what goes to personnel and entertainment. We need to know what comes to a Minister and a Legislator above the table and under the table. We also need to ask ourselves if we truly need a two tier legislative arm. Or if it is sustainable. It is likely we would have a stricter tax regime with this government. This means many of us are going to be taxed more than we’ve ever been. How much of this tax revenue will go to infrastructure and how much to the large appetites of government functionaries? We need to ask more questions and demand more answers. There is a Freedom of Information Act in place. We need to avail ourselves of it and stretch its limits where necessary.
Governance in Nigeria is shrouded in opacity. It has been so for too long. We should begin to clean the windows and clear the cobwebs for a better, cleaner, more transparent view of government expenditure. Our politicians across parties are united by the lust of free money. That is why they jump parties at will for political posts. That is why they fight and kill for power. They have fed fat from our commonwealth for so long. It is time to start purging them and plugging holes.
