COVID-19: Reduce salaries, allowances of political office holders, lawyer tells govt.
Abuja – Mr Realwan Okpanachi, an Abuja based constitutional lawyer, has urged governments at all levels to review downward, salaries and allowances of political office holders and appointees in the country.
Okpanachi made the call in an interview , on Monday in Abuja.
The lawyer said this was necessary considering the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Nigeria’s economy.
The legal practitioner also wants government to retrench all redundant workers.
He said to help the economy in these trying times, employments and appointments should be made on the basis of productivity.
He said the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, that the Oronsaye’s report on rationalisation and restructuring of Federal Government parastatals, commissions and agencies be implemented, was commendable.
“The president’s directive for implementation of Oronsaye’s report with a view to prune down the number of MDAs from 263 to 161 is not only cheering but highly commendable.
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“I encourage state governments to also take steps towards reducing the number of their NDAs,’’ Okpanachi said.
The lawyer also urged the Federal Government to harmonise the salaries of various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), of government.
He said the practice where people working in some agencies were paid salaries that were far and above what their contemporaries in ministries were earning, was not only discriminatory, but demoralising.
“There is no explanation for a director in the ministry taking a salary that is far less than what a new entrant in some agencies takes,’’ the lawyer said. (NAN)
