Nigeria needs to stop the habit of having a large number of political appointments across different tiers of government so as to save cost, Transparency International Nigeria has said.

“We cannot afford to be having this jamboree of political appointments across different tiers of government if we are serious about reducing the cost of governance,” said Auwwal Rafsanjani, who heads the TI Nigeria office, on Thursday.

“Recklessly appointing over 1,000 special advisers in the guise of political compensation must stop.

“This is simply because it has eaten deep into our resources and it is no longer sustainable,” he stated.

Nigerian political officeholders are prone to appointing a retinue of aides that often put a strain on the government pocket.

Recall that the Senate approved President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s request to appoint 20 special advisers (SAs) last Wednesday.

A correspondence to that effect was read by the immediate past Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on the floor of the upper legislative chamber.

In the request to the Red Chamber, the president did not list the 20 aides but the request received a speedy approval.

Commenting on the request, Lawan said it is of “utmost urgency” that the President has his team to work with.

The Nasarawa State House of Assembly also last Thursday approved the request of Governor Abdullahi Sule for the appointment of 20 special advisers.

The Speaker of the House, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi said this after an emergency sitting of the House in Lafia.

Abdullahi said that the approval was to enable Sule to appoint advisers that would assist in implementing his policies and programmes for the people of Nasarawa State.

Rafsanjani who is also the executive director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC), however, feels that a jamboree of political appointments across different tiers of government in Nigeria needs to stop.