Alhaji Lasisi A. K. Jimoh, a statesman and All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftain in Kwara State, has proposed answers to Nigeria’s high cost of administration.
He slammed the approval of security votes by the government at all levels in the country, calling it “legalised looting of the public treasury.”
In an interview with DAILY POST in Ilorin, he stated, “If I have my way, I will want to put an end to the idea of security votes.” I worked as a government servant and was familiar with how so-called security votes work.
“It is not subject to auditing, but it is a legalised looting of public funds, because you cannot see billions of naira spent on security and nothing tangible done with the security votes.”
“If it cannot be completely stopped, it should be regulated; there should be a law establishing and regulating security votes.”
“It should be audited confidentially if it cannot be audited publicly.” At the very least, the National or State Assemblies should have a constitutional right to know how security votes are spent.”
Jimoh also criticised the trend of long convoys of political office holders in armoured cars, questioning who is after their lives.
Under the current socioeconomic agony that the country is through, the APC chieftain advocated democratic socialism in the form of austerity rather than political office holders living opulent lives while the public suffer.
“To improve our foreign reserves, we can boycott the boycottable and halt imports of luxury goods,” he stated. Why do we need to bring so many armoured vehicles into the country?
“Each armoured vehicle or car costs more than N100 million; why do we need that in this country?” He inquired further.
On the withdrawal of fuel subsidies, he praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the decision but criticised the hurried and unprepared way in which it was handled.
He compared it to a patient undergoing surgery, stating that anaesthesia is required to alleviate discomfort during the procedure, and that the federal government should have used the same way by implementing socio-political anaesthesia for citizens.
Jimoh described palliatives in the shape of food, automobiles, and cash, among other things, as an afterthought that should have been implemented before the loss of the gasoline subsidy.
He also remarked that labour unions were not helping matters by continuing to demand more money, which would not improve their living conditions.
“I was a labour activist, I started working in the private sector with the British Petroleum, BP, and was chairman of the workers union, first it was West African Limited when we joined and later became BP Nigeria Limited between 1967-1968.”
“Back then, our agitation was centred on getting more money, and I am surprised that trade unionism has not progressed beyond that level.”
“I expect the unions by now to be articulate enough to give the government guidelines and ideas on how to achieve good governance, rather than just asking for more money all the time,” he said.
He stated that what is crucial is “not the amount of money the workers take home, but the amount of goods and services that their take home can provide.”
On the issue in Niger Republic, the APC chieftain, while condemning the military takeover of government, advocated for other options to resolve the political impasse instead of using military action.
He claimed that, while he dislikes military control because it is totalitarian and allows for impunity, the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, should examine the environmental impact of the proposed military option.
