Nigeria runs a large, expensive government — Osinbajo

Nigeria’s Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, has said that the nation runs a large and expensive government.

Mr Osinbajo explained that there is need for a national debate on issues surrounding the size and cost of governance on Nigeria.

According to the Punch, Mr Osinbajo said this at a webinar organised by the Emmanuel Chapel on Friday.

The webinar, themed, ‘Economic stability beyond COVID-19’, was put together to look into Nigeria’s economic roadmaps amid covid-19 disruptions.

Reacting to a question thrown up by former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and immediate past Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi, Mr Osinbajo noted that “something drastic needs to be done to the size of government to attain efficiency.”

According to the Vice president, the major conundrum surrounding issues around cost of governance in Nigeria lies in the fact that the reform is in the hand of those who benefit from the existing structure.

“There is no question that we are dealing with large and expensive government, but as you know, given the current constitutional structure, those who would have to vote to reduce (the size of) government, especially to become part-time legislators, are the very legislators themselves,” Mr Osinbajo was quoted to have said.

– Premium Times