Researchers and experts from Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Budget Office of the Federation and dons, yesterday, warned that the current cost of governance is not only unsustainable, but would further retard the economic development of the country.

They, therefore, called on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to muster the political will in eradicating excesses, duplications and wastage.

Speaking at NISER’s monthly seminar series for the month of June in Ibadan, Oyo State Director General of NISER, Prof. Antonia Taiye Simbine, DG, Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, Country Director, BudgIT Nigeria, Gabriel Taiye Okeowo, Prof. Yusuf Abdullahi Manu of the Federal University Dutse, Jigawa State, among others observed that various studies and reports have harped on need to address those factors escalating the cost of governance in the country.

In their submissions, the researchers, Louis Chete and Abubakar Oladejo, from NISER, said recent findings indicated that high cost of governance hinders development in Nigeria, saying the effects must be critically and urgently addressed.

The duo identified the factors to include massive salaries and allowances of public office holders, who are not more than five percent of the population, but control and appropriate up to 80 per cent of public funds as stipend and overhead; maintenance of large number of aides by government officials, estimated to be between N1 billion and N3.5 billion on a monthly basis, translating to between N12 billion and N42 billion yearly; expensive democracy and huge amount on elections; high level of corruption and mismanagement of public funds, as well as duplication of  functions among ministries, extra Ministerial Departments and Agencies of Government (MDAs).

In view of this, NISER recommended that MDAs performing similar functions should be merged to save extra budgetary allocations; there should resizing of cabinet to a reasonable number; need to adopt cost-effective governance practices and deliberate efforts by government to implement cost-reduction measures by rejigging governance architectures.

In her remarks, Prof. Simbine said reminiscent of the fuel subsidy debate that the institute reflected on recently, commentators are quick to draw a connection between the high cost of governance and the nation’s depressing development outcomes.

She submitted that the simple argument here is that the cost of providing or administering governance should not be so drastically above the governance and wellbeing that is provided for the citizenry, as is currently the case.

This notwithstanding, the don noted that the cost of governance remains one of the “sticky areas of our democratic experiment.”

She added that as good as the 2012 Orosanye Report on Reform of Government Agencies is, the “legal processes involved in altering the status and structures of these agencies or the socio-economic impact of laying off too many people at once have been partly responsible for non-implementation of the report till date.”

Akabueze, who was represented by Prof. Olumide Ayodeji, expressed the hope that the Tinubu administration would take steps to address the dysfunctionalities in the economy, while Prof. Okeowo submitted that the blame for high cost of governance cannot be attributed solely to political office holders, as public servants also aid and abet the anomaly through sharp practices such as salary, budget padding, non- or partial disclosure of government expenditures, increasing debt profile, systemic corruption, among others.

The panelists recommended movement of staff from areas of redundancy to those of need, automation of payment to plug leakages, devolution of powers, pruning of legislators, sustained political will and others to address the menace.

They also called for a unicameral legislature as part of measures to address the issue.