The Imperatives of a Drastic Cut in the Number of Ministers, Senators and Members of House of Representatives in Nigeria

By

Abubakar Alkali

alkalizai@yahoo.com

In his characteristic forthright and honest manner, President Muhammadu Buhari has alerted the nation of the worrisome state of Nigeria’s economy when he stated in far away India that Nigeria is broke. The President was also clear that Nigeria cannot afford to pay all the 36 ministers and that some ministers may not have portfolios. Impliedly, Nigeria cannot afford the responsibility placed on her by section 147 (3) of the 1999 constitution as amended which stipulates inter alia that ‘the President shall appoint at least one minister from each state who shall be an indigene of such state.

By Mr President’s declaration, the question arises as to whether Nigeria can afford the current bloated size of the national assembly consisting of 109 senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives making a total of 469 members of the national assembly.

It goes without saying that if Nigeria is broke and cannot afford 36 ministers, then the country can also not afford 469 members of the national assembly. Of course it is understandable that Mr President didn’t include the national assembly in his statement as a mark of respect for the principle of separation of powers as enshrined in the constitution. The Presidential declaration on the unaffordability of the country to maintain a full cabinet has once more spiked up the debate for a drastic cut in the size of government. There is no chance that our country can eradicate the current extreme and delimitating poverty amongst the citizens when the national budget is based on a sharing formula of 90% recurrent expenditure and a mere 10% capital expenditure. This means that Nigeria spends 90% of its income to maintain public office holders who constitute less than 5% of the population while a meagre 10% is left for more than 95% of the population.

For a genuine drive to improve the living conditions of the poor masses of Nigeria, the national budget should be based on a minimum sharing formula of 65% capital expenditure and 35% recurrent expenditure. The Presidential system of government is too expensive for Nigeria and cannot be justified under the current poverty levels in the country. There is the urgent need to replace the Presidential system with a political system that fits our peculiarities as against the copycat syndrome simply because we want to be seen as part of the ‘world order.

Sections 48 and 49 of the constitution stipulate that there shall be 3 senators per state and 360 members of the House of House of Representatives representing constituencies of nearly equal population as far as possible. The point has been made that the national assembly takes about 25% of Nigeria’s national budget. This is unsustainable in a nation where the average Nigerian lives on 1 dollar per day and where the average level of poverty is hovering around 90%. The argument then arises as to why Nigeria cannot drastically reduce the number of senators and invest the savings into our communities to fight poverty and build infrastructure. Nigerians in unison are calling for a drastic cut in the number of senators and House of Representatives from its current levels of 469 members to 74 members comprising of 2 representatives per state and the FCT under a UNICAMERAL arrangement. Under this arrangement, the 2 chambers should be merged together to form a single chamber (UNICAMERAL) with 2 representatives from each state. The same pattern of downsizing should be replicated at state legislatures.

Nigeria needs to make hard choices if we are to stand any chance of eradicating poverty and taking our rightful place in the comity of nations. No Nigerian has any business with poverty when juxtaposed with the abundant human and material resources in our country. It is undemocratic and counterproductive to send a sea of senators and representatives in the name of ‘representation’ while leaving their constituents in extreme and absolute poverty. What then is the essence of government? Is it to maintain public office holders (who are rich anyway) and their families or serve the poor masses?. If the former is the answer, then the question arises as to whether democracy is worth it to the poor masses of this country.

It should be noted that the current extra-large size of government in Nigeria is a constitutional matter and to change that, the constitution has to be changed. It is imperative to state that Nigeria needs to turn the page on the past era of waste and corruption in line with the cardinal objectives of the Buhari administration. To plug waste and ensure in a fair distribution of the almost limitless resources of the country, there is the need for a brand new constitution for Nigeria.

Some analyst believe that the problem is not with the constitution but with it’s implementation: I disagree with this position. The major problem is with the constitution itself because it promotes income inequality and disproportionate distribution of resources.  In this vein, the process of enacting a new constitution needs to start sooner rather than later. What should be done for a start is a referendum for a new constitution through a YES or NO vote. The referendum will establish the consent of the good people of Nigeria and stamp the people’s seal of approval on the proposed constitution. The referendum will also give legitimacy and legal backing to the constitution making process. A majority YES vote for a new constitution should signal the commencement of a constitution making process which although long enough in a democracy is still achievable. Of course, those who want the status quo to remain will aver that the process of making a new constitution is too long, or even posit that Nigeria cannot midwife a new constitution under a democracy. As a matter of fact, those who benefit from the current system will even go further to say that the problem is not the constitution but its implementation. But I disagree because it is the same constitution that has forced on us 36 ministers that we cannot even afford to pay. The same constitution forced on us 109 senators whose actual contribution to national development is still a matter of concern to all Nigerians. The same constitution forced on us 360 members of the House of Representatives who together with the senators allegedly take home 25% of the national budget. The same constitution forced on us a 13% derivation formula and allows a person to become a minister to ‘represent’ his/her state even if that person has never lived in that state and cannot establish any link with the state except a certificate to say that he/she is an indigene of that state.

The fact remains that the current constitution cannot bail us out of the current trauma of a very weakly empowered citizenry most of whom live in abject poverty and penury while their ‘representatives’ drive the best cars on offer and live a lavish life. Almost everything seems to be allocated to public office holders with very little for the poor majority masses of the country under the current constitution. The current constitution also promotes corruption through income inequality which ensures concentration of public funds in the hands of a select few. Our dear country Nigeria needs to begin a process of replacing the current constitution with a brand new constitution that is in tandem with the current realities in Nigeria including but not limited to, absolute poverty, rising levels of unemployment hitting above 40%, decaying infrastructure, epileptic power supply, hospitals turning to mere consulting clinics, etc.