Rethink your attitude to governance, Otti counsels office holders

BY KAZIE UKO

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) gubernatorial candidate in the 2019 election in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has called on the ruling class and political elites in the country to re-think their attitude towards public service and not see it as an avenue for self-enrichment.

Otti decried the manner political office holders at both the Executive and Legislative arms of government appropriated the nation’s resources, by awarding hefty sums of monies and other largesse as retirement and pension packages to themselves.

This unwholesome attitude, according to him, was the major reason elections in the country have become a do-or-die affair.

He warned all those occupying public offices of possible dire consequence if they did not change in their ways and tow the path of fairness and responsible leadership, by being sensitive to the plight of the people they govern.

“Frankly, we should begin to do everything possible to make public service very unattractive to people who see it as an avenue to make a living. Elsewhere, people offer themselves for such services when they had been successful in other walks of life. Unfortunately, the reverse is the case here in Nigeria.

“It is also the main reason why our elections have turned into banditry and war. It is up to us to sit down and change this deplorable situation. I believe we all know what to do, if we don’t do it voluntarily, the realities of the economy would force us to do it.

“Even then, these are the more palatable choices facing us. It is difficult to contemplate worse, but not impossible scenarios. The French monarchy and aristocracy had its comeuppance in this manner about 200 years ago. If we let that happen here, the consequences could be too dire for all of us,” Otti posited in his fortnightly column, ‘Outside the Box’, published every other Monday in Thisday newspaper.

Otti, an economist and former bank chief executive, said it was sad that in most of the states where these jumbo packages are dispensed to political office holders, salaries and allowances of workers and retirees’ pensions remained in arrears for several months.

“There are a lot of cases where governors and other public officers receive jumbo packages called pension on leaving office. Some like we had seen, are entitled to mansions in their states and elsewhere, in addition. Meanwhile, many of them, surprisingly, do not retire. Many of them end up in the Senate or the House of Representatives while others get appointed to ministerial and other juicy positions. So, they end up collecting salaries twice or even more.

“This also applies to retired military officers. This is simply unfair and dishonest, but more importantly, dangerous in a society like ours where the poverty levels are rising daily. By the way, have you bothered to find out how much your governor draws as monthly ‘security vote’? Is the information classified? He queried.

Writing under the heading, ‘To Hell with Self(ish) Interests’, he declared that it was sad that the same people who should worry most are the ones who pass laws that enhance their self-interests and put further pressure on our earnings and our collective interests.

“Related to this is the clear insensitivity to the plight of workers and the real people who should actually be entitled to pensions; namely the real pensioners. In some of the states paying jumbo salaries and allowances to both the executive and legislator, salaries of poor workers have been in arrears for several months. One would have expected these ‘elected representatives of the people’ to show greater empathy and concern for such people who need the money more, rather than approving jumbo packages for already well-off people in government.

“This column condemns this self-serving attitude of our lawmakers, both at the national and state levels. Our laws are very clear about who fixes salaries and allowances for public officers. In the 1999 Constitution, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) is responsible for fixing salaries and allowances of public officers including lawmakers. It is a breach of our constitution for the law makers to hijack the job of RMAFC. It is also against the doctrine of separation of powers and checks and balances for law makers to be fixing their own emoluments,” he wrote.

He added: “I call on citizens to become more vigilant and show interest in how our commonwealth is used. It is our responsibility to know and we should be asking questions. As they say, the rat cannot steal from the hands of someone who is alert. Our leaders are bound to take us for granted if we do not ask questions. We must learn to hold them accountable because they are actually our servants and not our lords.

“The choice is ours. We can decide to be collectively dumb or collectively wise. We must thank organisations like the CLO and SERAP for rising to the occasion. We must emulate them and help raise this public alarm. They also deserve our support. We must do these yesterday.”